Champions League: 3 explanations why Manchester United lost to Barcelona

Manchester United displayed one of their finest performances in recent memory against Barcelona at Old Trafford in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League quarterfinal tie but ended up losing 0-1.

The only goal which was the difference between the two sides came in the twelfth minute of the game when a Luis Suarez cross caught hold of United left-back Luke Shaw's shirt and crawled into the net.

United was brilliant throughout the game and did not deserve to lose. However, there are some flaws which have crept into Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side and they need to be sorted out before next week's second leg clash with the Blaugrana.

We pick out three reasons why the Red Devils lost on Wednesday.

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#1 Poor finishing

Marcus Rashford was poor

There is no denying that Manchester United was by far the better side in their game against Barcelona and was constantly making inroads towards the latter's defence. However, despite pressing high and pushing so hard, they could not score a goal and that was simply down to the fact that their attacking players did not look to score too often.

Romelu Lukaku was marked heavily by Gerard Pique and Clement Lenglet, but Marcus Rashford had a lot of chances and missed all of them. He did not have the composure to calm himself and get shots on goal. Manchester United hardly troubled Marc Andre Ter Stegen with challenging shots.

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#2 Right wing woes

Manchester United Captain, Ashley Young, was not at his best on Wednesday

Manchester United manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, played youngster Diogo Dalot on the left-hand side of his team's attack on Wednesday and that meant Ashley Young was left in charge of the right side. Young had a disappointing game offensively, although he was quite a handful defensively.

Young's crossing has been under the scanner for quite some time now and on Wednesday, he missed a lot of golden opportunities. There were wide spaces but the former Aston Villa man could not make the most of them. Manchester United need to address this issue soon and find a replacement for the ageing Young.

#3 Unhelpful refereeing decisions

Referee Gianluca Rocchi did not have a great game either

This might sound ungainly, but Manchester United did suffer from a lot of terrible refereeing decisions on Wednesday. Referee Gianluca Rocchi allowed Barcelona's holding midfielder, Sergio Busquets, to play on after he had brought down Scott McTominay with his high challenge early on in the game.

He was booked later for another high challenge on Paul Pogba but escaped a second yellow card after another push on the Frenchman in the 38th minute.

To make matters worse, in the latter stages of the game, there was an appeal by United for a handball by Busquets off a United cross, which was turned down, and the Spaniard escaped lightly again.

If Busquets had been sent off, United would have had a clear advantage in terms of numbers. Also, if the handball against Barca had been given, the Red Devils would have had a penalty.