As seems to be the way of these pre-season games the second half of this match was more or less phoned in by both teams. It was as if a gentleman’s agreement was made at halftime to leave it at that.
As such, all the action was in the first half, one in which Barcelona dominated through their big three, Messi, Suarez and Neymar (who was particularly dangerous). As good as these players are United will be disappointed they afforded them so much space in the centre of the park. I lost count of the times Barca was able to progress the ball unopposed down the spine — and from that position dangerous balls were fed out wide forcing United to defend facing their own goal and resulting in 12 first-half shots by Barca. Blind was caught out on a number of occasions and if it wasn’t for De Gea United would surely have lost by a much larger margin. As I mentioned, Rashford and Pogba were United’s best.
Despite the result, no damage has been done, and as far as I can tell both teams escaped without injury. And as the pre-season marches on I’ll march off. Thanks for your company and your messages. Cheerio.
94 min: Tuanzebe goes on an excellent muscular run down the right flank, holding off defenders long enough to cross inside. He does so, right across the field to Martial who can’t quite create room for a shot. Moments later Utd attack down the left. Martial slips an inside ball to Rashford who can level the score from distance but his powerful shot flies high into the stands.
89 min: Rashford is down after colliding with Digne. Both men were looking at the ball so nothing untoward about it. Mourinho looks on from the sideline with a rather vacant look on his face. It’s the face I have when I daydream during my kids’ school music concert after it goes into its second hour.
88 min: From the throw, Pogba turns with the ball on the byline and clips a well-weighted cross into the Barca six-yard box. But there’s no-one in a red dirty white shirt to get a head on it.
87 min: Rashford chases a ball down the right wing. Digne’s sliding tackle robs him of the chance to cross, and Digne seems to have injured himself in the process. Rashford has put in a decent shift tonight.
83 min: And here’s a card for Fellaini. Roberto goes for another gallop from deep and Fellaini, knowing him can’t catch him, clips him from behind instead.
82 min: Iniesta finds Munir on the right but Darmian clatters into him from behind like a distracted driver. The foul count is rising as the team’s tire.
80 min: Neymar is pictured sitting on the Barca bench in a black T-shirt with his cap worn backwards. Suarez and Busquets flank him and all three are talking behind their hands as if to frustrate the legion of lip-reading transfer speculators out there.
75 min: Iniesta curls a free kick from wide right trying to find a Barca runner near the far post. The outswinging ball evades Romero but not Bailly who clears.
71 min: Nice play by Utd. After playing out from the back, Darmian, on the left wing, knocks a smart first-time ball to Pogba who sees the field open up in front of him. He dribbles to 20 yards out and tries to pass it into the bottom right corner but Cillessen gets down to snuff it out.
70 min: A desperate Barca lunge blocks a Rashford shot on the edge of the D but the rebound falls to Pereira who rasps a left-foot drive. It’s on target but Cillessen gets down well to save.
68 min: Pereira is the beneficiary of a smart backwards header from a teammate and though he’s 30 yards out he attempts a highlight-reel shot. He hits it well but it climbs too high.
66 min: Barca now with a chance. Alcacar catches Bailly napping as the Utd defender allows the Barca man in behind him, where he takes down a lofted ball. Bailly tries to recover but Alcacar cuts inside his lunge and he gets off a strong shot - which Romero does well to push around his left post.
65 min: Action! Rashford and Lukaku again link up (they’re trying) before Rashford turns back inside and passes across the face of the Barca box to Martial in space. He skips inside the first defender and tries to guide it into the top right corner. But, like an off oyster, he can’t keep it down.
61 min: Lukaku and Rashford execute a give and go but the ball is cleared before Lukaku can even contemplate a shot.
Lingard, who’s been quiet this half, is down being treated and he’s rubbing his groin as if it’s a genie’s lamp. But it’s not and he shuffles off to the bench, replaced by Martial. Mkhitaryan has also gone off, replaced by Pereira.
52 min: Former Valencia man Alcacer tries to beat the offside trap and latch onto a chip from midfield but the flag goes up: Jones, it was, ensuring Alcacer was offside.
50 min: Sergio Roberto dashes from fullback right over the halfway line before Lukaku decides he’s seen enough and he bundles him over unceremoniously.
48 min: Already the pace is notably slower ... although here’s Lingard linking up with Pogba, measuring a nice pass for the Frenchman to run onto but a sliding tackle dispossess him before he can shoot.
46 min: United have also made a host of changes which I’ll get to in time. Fellaini is on, however. Barca be wary. Bailly is also on, as in Jones and Darmian.
Barcelona kick us off... and they’ve practically an entirely different team. Neymar, Suarez and Messi, among others, are all in the showers. Metaphorically speaking at least.
The players are moseying their way down the tunnel. No doubt there will be a raft of changes made to both teams. Whatever they do, Utd will need to shore up their defence. They’ve had a few good moments, mostly through Rashford and Pogba, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to get on the scoreboard, but it’s at the other end they look flakey.
That’s oranges, with Barcelona all over Utd like a hot flannel on a filthy face. Thanks to De Gea, and some rusty shooting. they’ve only one goal to show for it. As much as one worries about these things in pre-season Mourinho will be concerned at how much space Barca have in midfield. And not the flanks, either, but mid- mid-field. Time and again Barca have marched up the guts with little resistance.
43 min: After Utd break Pogba, on the right, crosses to Lukaku who is storming into the box like a headmaster into a scrum of brawling schoolboys. Again, it’s ahead of Lukaku, and despite his valiant stretch he can only clip it ineffectively.
41 min: Messi lobs the free kick downfield towards Suarez. Carrick gets there first but he only succeeds in knocking the ball back into the air. Suarez watches it drop and attempts a side-on bicycle kick; it would have ended up in the net but for another De Gea save.
40 min: Mascherano sprints out of defence and passes to Messi. Blind, who is attracting all kinds of abuse on social media from Utd fans, deals with the situation by pulling Messi down by the shirt.
