Man United vs Barcelona facts

European heavyweights Manchester United and Barcelona meet at Old Trafford in the second leg of their UEFA Europa League knockout play-off with honours even after a thrilling 2-2 draw at the Camp Nou.

During the autumn United were runners-up on goal difference to Real Sociedad in UEFA Europa League Group E despite registering 15 points – a tally greater than that of five section winners – while Barcelona finished third in their UEFA Champions League group with seven points for the second successive season – after 17 straight years competing in that competition's knockout phase – behind Bayern München and Inter Milan.

Previous meetings

After a goalless first half on 16 February, both teams scored twice after the interval in a riveting contest. Barcelona defender Marcos Alonso headed in from close range to break the deadlock on 50 minutes, but in-form Marcus Rashford equalised soon afterwards before prompting a Jules Koundé own goal just before the hour. The final say went to the home side as Raphinha's cross from the right found the far corner to make the final score 2-2, a result that means Barcelona are still awaiting their first home win in the UEFA Europa League (D3 L1).

The clubs are familiar foes in UEFA competition, Barça holding the upper hand with six wins to United's three and 26 goals to the English side's 17. The Liga club had won four successive matches between the teams going into the first leg of this tie, including the UEFA Champions League finals of 2009 and 2011, though United have the edge in two-legged knockout ties with two successes to Barça's one.

That sole Barcelona win came in the sides' most recent tie before this one as they eliminated United from the quarter-finals of the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League, winning 1-0 at Old Trafford with an early Luke Shaw own goal before a Lionel Messi double and a Philippe Coutinho strike gave them a 3-0 win at the Camp Nou. The Blaugrana would lose the ensuing semi-final to United's great domestic rivals Liverpool despite another 3-0 home win, dramatically going down 4-0 at Anfield six days later. This is the first time they have been paired with English opponents since then.

The 2009 UEFA Champions League final in Rome went Barça's way thanks to a goal in each half from Samuel Eto'o and Messi. Two years later Messi was on target again in between goals from Pedro Rodríguez and David Villa as Barcelona ran out 3-1 victors at Wembley, Wayne Rooney providing United's only response. Current captain Sergio Busquets and head coach Xavi Hernández were in Barcelona's line-up for both finals.

United's last victory over Barça was in the 2007/08 UEFA Champions League semi-finals, Paul Scholes scoring the only goal of the tie in the Old Trafford second leg after United's Cristiano Ronaldo had missed an early penalty in the first leg at the Camp Nou.

United were unbeaten at home by Barcelona until that 2018/19 encounter, their first four meetings in Manchester having brought two wins and two draws.

United beat Barcelona in the 1991 European Cup Winners' Cup final in Rotterdam, former Barça striker Mark Hughes scoring both goals in a 2-1 win.

The Red Devils have won only 19 of their 69 matches against Spanish clubs and just 11 of their 31 at home. They have recorded a mere three victories in the last 14 games against Spanish visitors to Old Trafford, losing six including each of the last two.

United's last five European campaigns have all been brought to an end by Spanish clubs, Atlético de Madrid eliminating them in last season's UEFA Champions League round of 16 (1-1 a, 0-1 h).

The Catalan side have a positive balance from their 77 previous matches against English clubs in UEFA competition (W36 D22 L19). In England their record is W11 D9 L16, the most recent visit bringing their heaviest defeat – that 4-0 reverse at Anfield.

United's overall record in two-legged European ties against Spanish teams is W8 L10, while Barcelona's against English clubs is W15 L11.

Form guide

Man. United

United finished sixth in the English top flight last season, registering 58 points – their lowest ever Premier League tally – to qualify for the UEFA Europa League group stage. They topped their 2021/22 UEFA Champions League section ahead of Villarreal, Atalanta and Young Boys, but were eliminated in the last 16 by Atlético under interim boss Ralf Rangnick, who was replaced as head coach in the summer by Erik ten Hag.

The Dutchman's first European encounter as United boss also ended in defeat by Spanish opposition as the Red Devils lost their opening Group E encounter 0-1 at Old Trafford to Real Sociedad. However, they won all of their other five fixtures, doing the double over both Sheriff (2-0 a, 3-0 h) and Omonoia (3-2 a, 1-0 h) before reversing that Matchday 1 scoreline in San Sebastián, when they needed to win by two or more goals to unseat their opponents from top spot.

This is United's sixth participation in the UEFA Europa League knockout phase. They have always previously progressed to at least the round of 16 and have made it through to the last four in each of their last three campaigns, winning the competition in 2016/17, going out in the semi-finals in 2019/20, to Sevilla, and finishing as runners-up on their last appearance in 2020/21, when they lost the final 11-10 on penalties to Villarreal after a 1-1 draw in Gdańsk.

United's UEFA Europa League record at Old Trafford is W16 D4 L3, the Matchday 1 defeat by Real Sociedad ending an 18-match unbeaten run (W14 D4). In the knockout phase of the competition they lost their first two home fixtures but are unbeaten in the 12 since (W9 D3), winning the most recent 6-2 against Roma in the first leg of the 2020/21 semi-finals.

United have won 12 of the 18 UEFA ties in which they recorded a first-leg away draw, losing the most recent, against Atlético in last season's UEFA Champions League round of 16. This is the first time they have drawn the away first leg 2-2 in a European tie.

Barcelona

Barcelona were runners-up to Real Madrid in the 2021/22 Liga, making it three years without a league title – their longest barren run since the early 2000s. The five times European champions also failed to get out of their UEFA Champions League group for the first time since 2000/01.

This season Barça again crashed out of Europe's flagship club competition after six matches. Although Xavi's side started and finished their campaign with big wins against Viktoria Plzeň (5-1 h, 4-2 a), they managed just one point in between, losing twice to Bayern for the second successive campaign (0-2 a, 0-3 h) and also succumbing to Inter as they followed a 1-0 defeat in San Siro with a 3-3 draw at the Camp Nou.

Barcelona made their UEFA Europa League debut last term, beating Napoli in the knockout play-off (1-1 h, 4-2 a) and Galatasaray in the round of 16 (0-0 h, 2-1 a) before going out to eventual winners Eintracht Frankfurt in the quarter-finals (1-1 a, 2-3 h). Barça competed 11 times in the UEFA Cup but never lifted the trophy, nor indeed reached the final, suffering semi-final elimination on four occasions – in 1975/76, 1977/78, 1995/96 and 2000/01.

Although defeated in four of their last six UEFA Champions League away fixtures, Barça are unbeaten on their travels in the UEFA Europa League, the three matches last season yielding two wins and a draw.

The Azulgrana have been held to a home draw in the first leg of a UEFA tie on 13 previous occasions, going through seven times, including in two successive UEFA Europa League ties last season – against Napoli in the knockout play-offs (1-1 h, 4-2 a) and Galatasaray in the round of 16 (0-0 h, 2-1 a). Their aggregate successes include the one previous tie in which have they drawn the first home leg 2-2, against PSV Eindhoven in the quarter-finals of the 1995/96 UEFA Cup, when they advanced thanks to a 3-2 win in the Netherlands.

UEFA Europa League squad changes

Man. United

In: Jack Butland (Crystal Palace, loan), Marcel Sabitzer (Bayern München, loan), Wout Weghorst (Burnley, loan)
Out: Cristiano Ronaldo (released), Martin Dúbravka (Newcastle, end loan), Charlie McNeill (Newport, loan), Shola Shoretire (Bolton, loan), Axel Tuanzebe (Stoke, loan)

Barcelona

In: Chadi Riad
Out: Héctor Bellerín (Sporting CP), Memphis Depay (Atlético de Madrid), Gerard Piqué (retired), Miralem Pjanić (released), Álvaro Sanz, Álex Valle

Links and trivia 

Spanish goalkeeper David de Gea, who started his career with Atlético before moving to Old Trafford in 2011, is one of four players with Liga experience in United's squad. Raphäel Varane (2012–21) and summer signing Casemiro (2013/14, 2015–22) were both Real Madrid stalwarts, while Martial spent the second half of last season on loan at Sevilla.

Five Barça players have played for Premier League clubs:
Marcos Alonso (Bolton 2010–13, Sunderland 2014 loan, Chelsea 2016–22)
Andreas Christensen (Chelsea 2014–22)
Eric García (Manchester City 2018–21)
Raphinha (Leeds 2020–22)
Ferran Torres (Manchester City 2020–21)

Barça midfielder Frenkie de Jong worked under Ten Hag at Ajax from 2017 to 2019, winning the Dutch domestic double and reaching the UEFA Champions League semi-finals in 2018/19. United's Donny van de Beek was also a member of that side.

Raphinha is a fellow Brazilian international of United trio Antony, Casemiro and Fred; De Jong plays for the Netherlands with United's Van de Beek, Tyrell Malacia and new arrival Wout Weghorst; Barça's Ousmane Dembélé and Jules Koundé are former France team-mates of Varane; and Christensen and United's Christian Eriksen play together for Denmark.

United's new loan signing Marcel Sabitzer played twice against Barcelona for Bayern in this season's UEFA Champions League group stage.

Ten Hag's record in UEFA competition against Spanish clubs is now W4 D1 L4, his greatest success a 4-1 win for Ajax at Real Madrid in the second leg of the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League round of 16 that knocked the holders out of the competition.

United are one of two former UEFA Europa League winners competing in the knockout play-offs, the other four-time champions Sevilla. Four other teams – Ajax, Juventus, PSV Eindhoven and Shakhtar Donetsk – lifted the trophy as the UEFA Cup.

Barcelona are one of only two teams to have returned to the UEFA Europa League knockout play-offs for a second successive season, the other domestic rivals Sevilla.

Third in the Premier League, five points behind leaders Arsenal, United have lost just one of their last 19 fixtures in all competitions (W15 D3) and are the only English club still involved this season in four competitions. Barcelona boast an eight-point lead over Real Madrid at the top of the Spanish Liga and have gone 18 matches in all competitions without defeat (W15 D3).

Penalty shoot-outs

Manchester United's record in four UEFA penalty shoot-outs is W1 L3:
4-5 v Videoton, 1984/85 UEFA Cup quarter-final
3-4 v Torpedo Moskva, 1992/93 UEFA Cup first round
6-5 v Chelsea, 2007/08 UEFA Champions League final
10-11 v Villarreal, 2020/21 UEFA Europa League final

Barcelona's record in six UEFA penalty shoot-outs is W5 L1:
5-4 v AZ Alkmaar, 1977/78 UEFA Cup second round
3-1 v Ipswich Town, 1977/78 UEFA Cup third round
4-1 v Anderlecht, 1978/79 European Cup Winners' Cup second round
5-4 v IFK Göteborg, 1985/86 European Cup semi-final
0-2 v Steaua Bucureşti, 1985/86 European Cup final
5-4 v Lech Poznań, 1988/89 European Cup Winners' Cup second round