Marcus Rashford lit up Camp Nou as Manchester United and Barcelona played out a rip-roaring 2-2 draw in the first leg of their Europa League knockout play-off clash.
The global giants fought for Champions League glory in the 2009 and 2011 finals, but recent travails mean they are playing away from the continent’s top table as they continue their respective rebuilds.
This eagerly-anticipated meeting lived up to the billing as Rashford scored his 22nd goal of the season and fizzed in the cross that Jules Kounde turned into his own goal as United responded superbly to Marcos Alonso’s 50th-minute opener for Barcelona.
United shone in Spain but Raphinha’s cross found its way into the net to peg them back and sparked a breathless conclusion to a wild tie, setting up a mouth-watering return fixture at Old Trafford next week.
Erik ten Hag’s players heeded his request to take the game to the runaway La Liga leaders, who had Marc-Andre ter Stegen to thank for keeping the first leg goalless at half-time.
Bruno Fernandes brilliantly put Wout Weghorst through but the on-loan frontman could not beat the goalkeeper, who also stopped in-form Rashford bending a shot home.
For all of United’s positivity it was Barcelona that took the lead five minutes into the second half as former Chelsea defender Alonso rose to head home a corner.
But Ten Hag’s men are made of stern stuff and Rashford is in the form of his life, with the forward thumping home from an acute angle and then sending over a ball that Kounde turned into his own goal.
It was a mightily impressive display but United were not to end with a 2-1 comeback win at the Nou Camp like 1999, with Raphinha’s dangerous inswinging cross going straight in after Robert Lewandowski had tried to get a touch on it.
United rode their luck at the end of a game that started with Lewandowski testing David De Gea with a firm ninth-minute effort.
Barca attempted to pull United in different directions to create gaps and Pedri struck a snapshot over after Luke Shaw – again shifted centrally from left-back – blocked his initial flick-on.
United soon regained their composure and attacking instincts, with Aaron Wan-Bissaka breaking free down the right and cutting back for Jadon Sancho to see an effort deflect narrowly wide.
A bigger chance followed in the 28th minute as Fernandes superbly passed between the hosts’ centre-back pairing to put Weghorst through on goal. The Netherlands international waited for the ball to drop and ended up stretching under pressure to direct a shot that Ter Stegen easily saved.
United continued undeterred and nearly got joy from set-pieces, before Rashford raced through and forced Ter Stegen into a smart save,
Ten Hag’s side deserved to be ahead but they could have been behind at the break had Wan-Bissaka not produced a fantastic recovery tackle to take the sting out of Jordi Alba’s shot.
Barca were forced to replace Pedri with Sergi Roberto just before half-time, which they returned from strongly as Raphinha fizzed wide.
United responded with a great chance of their own that Sancho snatched at – a missed opportunity they were made to rue when Raphinha’s corner to the far post was all too easily met by Alonso in the 50th minute.
It was a gut punch that United responded to in emphatic fashion two minutes later.
Fred put a ball in for Rashford to chase and, after a touch that looked to have taken the ball too wide, the confident England hitman made a mockery of the acute angle to laser low past Ter Stegen at his near post.
The travelling fans high in the stands celebrated wildly, just as they would do again in the 59th minute.
Rashford collected a short corner and followed quick feet with a dangerous driven ball that ended with Kounde bundling into his own goal.
The 25-year-old was then furious not to win a penalty having been left in a heap by Kounde, with Ten Hag booked as he fumed about the lack of VAR intervention.
Lewandowski flashed a free-kick over and Fred fired wide as this entertaining encounter continued, with play swinging from end to end.
Barcelona finally found their second goal in the 76th minute. Casemiro gave away possession and Raphinha’s threatening cross went past a host of bodies and into the net.
This frantic first leg continued as Rashford lashed wide before De Gea denied Raphinha and substitute Ansu Fati tried his luck.
Barcelona upped the ante during a chaotic ending that saw the ball hit the woodwork, United’s goalkeeper standing firm and luck being on the visitors’ side.
Penalty appeals against Fred were overlooked as the hosts pushed for a late winner on a thrilling night that sets up a superb second leg.
THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
Tips to stay safe during hot weather
- Stay hydrated: Drink plenty of fluids, especially water. Avoid alcohol and caffeine, which can increase dehydration.
- Seek cool environments: Use air conditioning, fans, or visit community spaces with climate control.
- Limit outdoor activities: Avoid strenuous activity during peak heat. If outside, seek shade and wear a wide-brimmed hat.
- Dress appropriately: Wear lightweight, loose and light-coloured clothing to facilitate heat loss.
- Check on vulnerable people: Regularly check in on elderly neighbours, young children and those with health conditions.
- Home adaptations: Use blinds or curtains to block sunlight, avoid using ovens or stoves, and ventilate living spaces during cooler hours.
- Recognise heat illness: Learn the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke (dizziness, confusion, rapid pulse, nausea), and seek medical attention if symptoms occur.
RESULT
Manchester United 2 Tottenham Hotspur 1
Man United: Sanchez (24' ), Herrera (62')
Spurs: Alli (11')
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Friday (UAE kick-off times)
Cologne v Hoffenheim (11.30pm)
Saturday
Hertha Berlin v RB Leipzig (6.30pm)
Schalke v Fortuna Dusseldof (6.30pm)
Mainz v Union Berlin (6.30pm)
Paderborn v Augsburg (6.30pm)
Bayern Munich v Borussia Dortmund (9.30pm)
Sunday
Borussia Monchengladbach v Werder Bremen (4.30pm)
Wolfsburg v Bayer Leverkusen (6.30pm)
SC Freiburg v Eintracht Frankfurt (9on)
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Super 30
Produced: Sajid Nadiadwala and Phantom Productions
Directed: Vikas Bahl
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Pankaj Tripathi, Aditya Srivastav, Mrinal Thakur
Rating: 3.5 /5
In numbers
1,000 tonnes of waste collected daily:
- 800 tonnes converted into alternative fuel
- 150 tonnes to landfill
- 50 tonnes sold as scrap metal
800 tonnes of RDF replaces 500 tonnes of coal
Two conveyor lines treat more than 350,000 tonnes of waste per year
25 staff on site
Bookshops: A Reader's History by Jorge Carrión (translated from the Spanish by Peter Bush),
Biblioasis
if you go
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
