Barcelona had great momentum in the build-up to kick-off, leading La Liga by eight points after a huge turnaround under Xavi. Equally impressive was the sight of a packed-out Camp Nou, and this helped Barcelona start the stronger, with Robert Lewandowski forcing David de Gea into a smart save early on.
As for United, the in-form Marcus Rashford was clearly Barcelona’s main target and found himself heavily marked in the opening minutes.
Instead, it was fellow United forward Wout Weghorst who almost landed a sucker punch when sent through on goal, only for Marc-André ter Stegen to thwart him and keep the game goalless.
The Red Devils’ tails were up thereafter, and the German stopper produced further acrobatics to block Rashford’s inventive effort, but the hosts would regain centre stage on the brink of half-time, with Aaron Wan-Bissaka forced into a goal-saving block from Jordi Alba.
It initially seemed the second half was going to struggle to keep up with an exceptional first. But shortly after Jadon Sancho’s inexplicable miss and Raphinha’s whistling 25-yard effort, it was ex-Chelsea defender Marcos Alonso who headed Barcelona into the lead.
The hosts’ euphoria was short-lived, and they were still celebrating a knockdown when Marcus Rashford landed an instant counter-blow on 53 minutes, with the England international squeezing his effort past Ter Stegen to level the tie and equal his highest-ever scoring tally for a season.
Finally, these sides looked like teams that “deserve to be in the Champions League” – as per Xavi’s pre-match comments – and Rashford soon made another telling contribution within just a few minutes of his equaliser.
He embarked on a mazy run, and his subsequent drilled cross bounced off Jules Koundé and into the net for an unfortunate own goal.
That second blow appeared to have winded the hosts, but they remarkably recovered through Raphinha’s cross-cum-shot as the game entered its final stages.
It was obvious that neither side was content with the draw as the tempo refused to slow. Rashford did his best to tilt the contest once more, though it was United’s backline that threatened to bend late on, with De Gea forced into several impressive stops.
Ultimately, both sides can reflect on missed chances, but neutral fans certainly won’t complain, with this encounter surely going down as one of the Europa League classics ahead of next week’s second leg at Old Trafford.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Marcus Rashford (Manchester United)
