17 February 2023 , 08:49
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Marcus Rashford has expressed his 'disappointment' after Manchester United's thrilling 2-2 draw against Barcelona on Thursday night.
Spanish giants Barcelona were viewed as the favourites ahead of the two-legged Europa League play-off tie. Xavi's side are eight points clear of Champions League holders Real Madrid in the LaLiga title race and have not lost in any competition since October.
Yet United outclassed Barcelona at the Camp Nou. Marcos Alonso opened the scoring with a second-half header before Rashford scored his 22nd goal of the season. Rashford then forced Jules Kounde into an own goal, but a late Raphinha strike levelled the tie.
Most teams would be happy at holding Barcelona to a 2-2 draw, but Erik ten Hag's side have a different mentality - as demonstrated by Rashford's Instagram post. "Disappointed to only get a draw," wrote the England international in a blunt statement.
United suffered a dismal campaign under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick last year, as they finished sixth in the Premier League and failed to win a trophy for the fifth consecutive season. Rashford also struggled - scoring just five goals in all competitions.
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Yet Rashford and the rest of United's squad were reinvigorated by the arrival of Ten Hag last summer. United are third in the Premier League table - just six points behind leaders Manchester City - and are still in the FA Cup, Europa League and Carabao Cup.
Marcus Rashford was "disappointed" with Manchester United's result against Barcelona (Getty Images)What did you make of Manchester United's performance against Barcelona? Let us know in the comments below!
Ten Hag's side will be confident of winning the latter competition after reaching the final, which takes place at Wembley on February 26. Their opponents are Newcastle, who are also enjoying a good season. Eddie Howe's team are fourth in the Premier League table.
United legend Paul Scholes believes his former employers could complete a unique quadruple this season. He told BT Sport after Thursday night's game: "The quadruple is still on! No look, every game is a big game... no, I'm not joking!"
Barcelona manager Xavi was full of praise for United during his post-match interview. He told BT Sport: "It was a really tough game, really difficult, with a lot of intensity, passion, rhythm. We have to be proud because we compete really well until the end.
"We could have won in the last two chances but we played today against a top team in Europe. I think Manchester is coming back, and today they showed their best version. We compete really well, we need to be proud, and now we need to compete well in Old Trafford."
Ten Hag adopted a similar attitude to Rashford. The United boss told reporters: "We should have won this game so there are a number of steps to go. The criticism is that we need to be more clinical and to finish our chances. That is what we did not do.
"We created many chances, more than we expected so it is a little bit of a disappointment that we didn't score. We should have scored a minimum of four goals."