It was Luke Shaw’s 12th-minute own goal that separated Manchester United and their visitors, Barcelona in the first leg of the quarter-finals of this season’s UEFA Champions League.
On a night that the Spanish champions were not at their best, Paul Pogba and his teammates could not raise their game to earn a point at home. Their biggest achievement was only keeping Lionel Messi quiet throughout the game.
United were not purposeful when they had the ball. There was no bite in the attack. No wonder they had no shot on target as against Barcelona’s three.
The second leg at the Nou Camp will be very difficult for United, but all hopes are not lost. They overturned a 2-0 home defeat to PSG in the previous round they can certain overturn a 1-0 defeat to Barcelona especially if Barcelona will put up this kind of shambolic performance they displayed tonight.
In the other match, Cristiano Ronaldo opened scoring for Juventus towards the end of the first half, but Ajax appeared stronger in the second half and equalized with their first attack after the break.
