It seems like Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is ready to go to Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, the place that has transformed the Norwegian manager’s career as a player and made him one of the Red Devils’ biggest legends in history.
After losing at Camp Nou with a 0-1 defeat against the Catalan club, the new United boss knows that his players will have to make another inhumane effort to get that semifinals’ ticket but he reckons it’s not as impossible as many would believe.
We can’t forget that Manchester United has already won against two of the biggest clubs in European football this season, the first win came with Jose Mourinho still at the wheel during the group stage in a shocking result for Cristiano Ronaldo and company.
But we have to accept that the biggest upset of the year so far has been at Parc des Princes, a night that will be remembered by all the Manchester United for many years to come and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was coaching the squad on that very special occasion.
1) PSG Miracle
With this conviction of possibly getting another miracle going at Camp Nou and his star power, Ole spoke about the obstacles that his players will face during next week’s return leg.
“The PSG performance away gives us hope and belief we can do it,” said Ole via Sky Sports during the press conference after losing the match against Barcelona.
“But we know we are playing against probably the favorites in the tournament.”
“Going to the Nou Camp is going to be a challenge. It would be a greater achievement. With the history of Barcelona, they are not used to losing at home, but we can do it, no doubt about it.”
“Away from home we’ve beaten Juventus and PSG and now we need to go to Barcelona. We know we have possibilities in this tie.”
“We know we can carry a goal threat,” Solskjaer added.
“Whoever is playing up front, we have to provide a bit more ammunition for them.”
“We need to be effective and efficient over there because we’re not going to create loads of chances, we have to take what we get.”
“We will have to take more chances, release Paul [Pogba] or Scott [McTominay] from midfield, help the strikers and try to get crosses into the box.”
“But we’ve scored goals at the Nou Camp before from corners and crosses.”
2) AS Roma Miracle
Another important stat that the Norwegian manager has in his favour is directly related with FC Barcelona’s latest fortune in the Champions League, as the Catalan club has been eliminated from the competition in the last three editions by Atletico Madrid, Juventus FC, and AS Roma.
The last elimination against the Roman squad is by far the most surprising and the one anchor that the Red Devils have to trust that they can get another massive upset in this competition.
Defeating Barcelona at Camp Nou would automatically place them as the biggest title contenders for the competition and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would enlarge his legend even further than he already has so far this season.
Camp Nou is the place where all the energy seems to be pulling towards, the same place where the biggest success story for Manchester United took place during the Spring of 1999 against Bayern Munich with an Ole Gunnar Solskjaer late winner.
Seems like a stretch but FC Barcelona would make a massive mistake if they underestimated the Red Devils next week, for nobody should be considered an easy target in the Champions League.