MANCHESTER: Erik ten Hag’s transformation of Manchester United now has a European scalp to get excited about as Barcelona were vanquished on a night the Red Devils rolled back the years at Old Trafford.

Robert Lewandowski sent Barca ahead with a penalty but second-half goals from Fred and Antony secured a memorable United win as the La Liga leaders were beaten 2-1 on the night and 4-3 on aggregate.

The fact that United’s reward is merely a place in the last 16 of the Europa League shows there remains a long way to go for the three-time European champions to rediscover their past glories on the continental stage.

But momentum is building under the former Ajax boss with United still in the hunt for four trophies in Ten Hag’s first season in charge. A six-year wait for silverware could come to an end when United face Newcastle United in the League Cup final on Sunday.

Without a league title in a decade, United are just five points adrift of Premier League leaders Arsenal and also into the FA Cup last 16, where they face West Ham United at home.

For a long time since Alex Ferguson’s departure in 2013, Old Trafford lost its aura as an intimidating destination for visiting sides. But no one is looking forward to a trip to the Theatre of Dreams with United unbeaten in 18 games in all competitions at home.

Embarrassing defeats to Brighton & Hove Albion and Brentford to begin Ten Hag’s time in charge are now a distant memory. Barca joined the list of big names beaten on home soil in recent months, joining Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City.

“You need a strategy to build it but also results to get that strong belief,” said Ten Hag on how he has lifted United out of the mire of a miserable 2021/22 season when they finished sixth in the Premier League. “That is another step because when you can beat Barcelona, your belief can be really strong because you are then able to beat anyone.”

Despite the Europa League’s second tier status, this was almost certainly United’s finest night in continental competition since eliminating Paris St Germain from the Champions League last 16 in a dramatic night at the Parc des Princes four years ago.

The wait for such a European night under the lights at Old Trafford goes even further back to when Barca were beaten in the semi-finals of the 2008 Champions League. Ten Hag is hoping this is just the start on United’s road back to competing at the highest level in Europe.

“We have the potential to beat the big teams,” he added. “We have beaten City, Arsenal, Liverpool. If we show discipline and team spirit this team can do a lot.”

LATEST CONTINENTAL SETBACK

For Barca, this time it was supposed to be different but the Catalans were left licking their wounds after another continental failure.

Last season they also ended up in the Europa League playoffs after finishing third in their Champions League group and were knocked out of Europe’s second tier competition in the quarter-finals after a 3-2 loss to Eintracht Frankfurt at Camp Nou.

It was the first time since 1998-99 under Louis van Gaal that Barca failed to reach the Champions League knockout stages in two consecutive years and only the fifth occasion they have been eliminated in the group stage in the last three decades.

After a glorious run from 2005-15, winning four Champions League titles, Barca have failed to get past the last 16 in Europe’s elite competition in the last three seasons after being humiliated 8-2 by Bayern Munich in the 2019-20 quarter-finals.

Between disappointments, Barca fell into a financial crisis that was exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Restricted by LaLiga’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules, they were unable to re-sign club great Lionel Messi who left as a free agent for Paris St Germain in 2021.

Crashing out of Europe again is a dent to Barca’s finances, whose perilous state led the club’s board to sell a stake in their TV rights and agree the sale of their audio-visual division as part of several financial levers. But they are now facing a huge blow to their 2022-23 income after exiting the Champions and Europa League.

Xavi Hernandez’s side are top of LaLiga with a lead of eight points over their bitter rivals, Spanish and European champions Real Madrid. However, their dreadful results in Europe have taken some of the shine off their domestic form.

“It’s a big disappointment but I believe we were better this season than in the previous one, at least we showed up,” Xavi told Movistar Plus after Thursday’s loss. “We played against top level clubs like Bayern Munich, Inter Milan [in the champions League] and now Manchester United and were not able to be up to their level. Now what is left to us is to be humble and self-evaluate on how we can be better to compete at the highest level in Europe next season.”

JUVE, ROMA MOVE ON

United were joined by fellow heavyweights Juventus and AS Roma in the last 16.

Former United star Angel di Maria scored a hat-trick as Juventus reached the next stage with a 3-0 second leg win over Nantes. The result allowed the Italian giants to progress 4-1 on aggregate.

Jose Mourinho’s Roma also made it to the last 16 as a 2-0 win overturned a one-goal deficit from the first leg against Salzburg. Andrea Belotti and Paulo Dybala scored in a seven-minute first-half spell to secure the win.

Six-time champions Sevilla went down to a 2-0 defeat to PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands but progressed 3-2 on aggregate.

Sporting Lisbon were also amongst the winners, a 4-0 victory at Midtjylland in Denmark sealing a 5-1 victory.

Union Berlin, who are riding high in the Bundesliga, defeated Ajax 3-1 after the first leg had ended goalless last week.

Bayer Leverkusen needed penalties to win an epic against Monaco after the score ended 5-5 on aggregate while Shakhtar Donetsk beat Rennes on penalties after a 2-1 loss through extra time left the score at 3-3 on aggregate.

Published in Dawn, February 25th, 2023