Champions League, Barcelona 3-0 Manchester United: 3 things we learned from the match

#2 United lacked width through the right flank

Marcus Rashford hit the woodwork

United played three central players on the right side of the pitch but struggled to have any width through the right flank. Victor Lindelof, a centre-back, played as the right-back, as Phil Jones and Chris Smalling played as the central defenders. Moreover, defensive midfielder Scott McTominay played as the right-sided midfielder in a 4-3-3, and Jesse Lingard played as the right winger.

As a result, United had almost no width through the right flank. All their attacks were through the left side of the pitch primarily, as the likes of Paul Pogba, Anthony Martial and Ashley Young tried to create some moves.

Young played as the left back following Luke Shaw’s absence and tried to make his presence felt with his overlapping runs at times. United actually started in an emphatic fashion and dominated the game for the first 10 minutes. Rashford hit the crossbar in the third minute of the match, and United looked to be well in course for finding the opening goal.

However, their dominance did not last long as Barcelona took the reigns of the match gradually.