UEFA Champions League 2018-19: 3 reasons why Manchester United will lose to Barcelona in the quarterfinals

#1 Manchester United's defence is still in a bad shape

This is a different team when in the full-flow of attack. Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Jordi Alba, Ousmane Dembele, and pretty much every other player can expose the gaps that United has been leaving.

If there is one thing that still hasn't changed much from Jose Mourinho to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is their defence. The defence seemed bad under Jose because they were under more pressure because of Jose's defensive dependency. Ole has reduced that immensely but the defence still isn't as good when they are hit with attacks.

They were poor at defending against PSG in the first leg and got exposed from the wings. The same happened a lot in the second leg, the goal came from a cutback too, but luck favoured United on that night.

Mbappe missed a sitter from in front of goal but how did he even get there? Tottenham were beaten by United by a solitary goal but they forced 11 saves from De Gea, each one a direct threat at goal. It could possibly have been a lopsided scoreline if De Gea wasn't there. He won't do that every time.

Barcelona's attack, on the other hand, is the most dangerous one along with Juventus and Manchester City. Leo Messi is always in good form, Luis Suarez is back to his beastly form against Lyon, not in terms of scoring but in terms of creation. Coutinho rose like a phoenix against Lyon, and if that isn't enough you've got Malcom and Dembele.

Unlike United's attackers, Messi and Suarez have a great understanding and they don't need a third person to keep their football flowing. The same thing applies to Coutinho and Suarez. Jordi Alba, Sergi Roberto, Nelson Semedo, all expose the wings to the roots while attacking.

Does United's defence really stand a chance against this attack?