UEFA Champions League 2018/2019: 4 Manchester United players who could hurt Barcelona 

Manchester United would attempt to eliminate Barcelona
Manchester United would attempt to eliminate Barcelona

After another thrilling weekend of football, fans' attention would once more turn to the Champions League as action resumes on the continent with eight teams resuming hostilities in their quest to make it to the final in Madrid come May.

While all four fixtures of this season's quarterfinals are appealing in their own right, the undoubted marquee clash of the round is that involving Manchester United and Barcelona, as both clubs are among the most illustrious in history and have global fanbases running into hundreds of millions.

The two European giants would battle it out for a place in the semifinals and even though Barcelona are heavily expected to progress in this tie, Manchester United are more than capable of eliminating them. In this piece, we shall be taking a look at four Manchester United players who could harm Barcelona.


#4 Romelu Lukaku (Forward)

Lukaku would be hoping to keep up his recent good run of form
Lukaku would be hoping to keep up his recent good run of form

Having established himself in the Premier League with West Brom and Everton, Romelu Lukaku completed a mega-money move to Manchester United in the summer of 2017.

The deal cost a staggering £75m to make the Belgian international the most expensive striker of all time in the history of the Premier League.

However, despite posting a decent goals return since donning the red of Manchester United, Lukaku continues to draw massive criticism from fans all over the world.

The most frequently chided aspects of his game include his poor first touch and laborious play, while his finishing, constant goal droughts and bulky build have also cast him in a negative spotlight.

Nevertheless, despite all these, it must be remembered that Romelu Lukaku is a pretty decent striker in his own right.

At just 25 years, he is already his country's all-time record goalscorer, while with over 200 professional goals scored, he is among the highest scoring players of all time at this age and was the youngest foreign player in Premier League history to score 100 league goals.

So far this season, Lukaku has scored 15 goals in all competitions despite not being a regular while he was the star of the show in the last round as his second leg brace played a massive role in helping to eliminate PSG on their home turf.

#3 Marcus Rashford (Forward)

Rashford is a goal threat
Rashford is a goal threat

Marcus Rashford joined the Manchester United youth ranks in 2005 aged just seven and progressed through the ranks before grabbing headlines with his incredible debut in which he scored two goals for the Red Devils in the Europa League.

The 21-year-old also had goalscoring bows in the Premier League, League Cup, Manchester derby, UEFA Champions League and international debut.

Rashford is a player of undoubted class but had seen his progress stall over the years, particularly under the management of Jose Mourinho, as the Portuguese manager did not trust Rashford enough and publicly criticized him on numerous occasions.

The appointment of Solskjaer has however seen an upturn in Rashford's fortune, as the Norwegian showed enough confidence in Rashford's ability to make him the focal point of his attack and the England international has flourished in his new role.

In total, he has scored 10 goals and created six assists from 27 Premier League matches this season of which seven have come since Solskjaer took over, while also showing great composure to slot home the injury time winning penalty in very tense conditions against PSG and the Barcelona defense would do well to watch him.

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#2 Anthony Martial (Forward)

Manchester United v Watford FC - Premier League

Anthony Martial signed for Manchester United for the sum of £57.6 million in 2015 which made him the most expensive teenager in history at that point.

He had earlier shown a lot of promise with Monaco which led to him being named the Golden Boy in 2015 and he continued his bright start at Manchester United, scoring a brilliant goal against Liverpool on his debut and ending his first season at Old Trafford with 17 goals from 49 appearances in all competitions.

The arrival of Jose Mourinho at Manchester United affected a lot of players' growth and Anthony Martial was arguably the worst it. He struggled for form, with his dire situation at United costing him a spot in France's Word Cup winning squad.

This season continued in pretty much the same manner, but despite his differences with Mourinho, the French international continued to star on the pitch and was the club's leading goalscorer in the league prior to Mou's departure with seven goals.

Even though injuries have been unkind to him in recent weeks, Martial still possesses enough quality to harm Barcelona and would be buoyed by his recent five-year contract extension and the Blaugrana defence must do their best to keep him in check.

#1 Paul Pogba (Midfielder)

Pogba would be leading United's charge from midfield
Pogba would be leading United's charge from midfield

Inconsistent, Virus, Showoff, Prima Donna, Immature - these are some of the more unflattering printable names which have been used to describe Paul Pogba since he broke the world record to arrive Manchester United in 2016, but no matter how true these words may apply to him on occasion, the 26-year-old is still one of the best players in the world.

For all his shenanigans, there are few midfielders on the planet better than Pogba and one of the most amazing sites in football is seeing the World Cup winner gliding with full force towards the opposition goal, while his eye for passes and ability to deliver long range cross-field balls at top notch.

The former Juventus man is an extremely talented and exceptionally technical player and on his day he can hold his own with anybody in the world, but the problem has always been that he has not brought his positive said to the fore frequently enough.

Having endured a nightmare season under Jose Mourinho, the midfield powerhouse has been reborn under his former youth team coach, as Solskajer has built the team around him.

Since the 46-year-old's appointment, Pogba has starred with eight goals and six assists and has been the chief driving force behind United's upsurge even though he has seen a dip in form of late.

Barcelona's style of play attaches much importance on their midfield, which means that Pogba would have to double up on his performance if his club is to scale through the biggest test of his Manchester United career thus far.

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Edited by Jong Ching Yee
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