Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has named a 21-player squad that will travel to Catalonia for the Europa League knockout playoff first leg against Barcelona at Camp Nou.
Midfield enforcer Casemiro, who has an outstanding record at the iconic stadium from his years as a Real Madrid player is a welcome return in the squad due to his ongoing domestic suspension not applying to European competition. But Ten Hag has been forced to leave out centre-back Lisandro Martinez and January signing Marcel Sabitzer from the selection.
Martinez has long since silenced his critics following a big money summer transfer from Ajax, quickly becoming one of the best centre-backs in the Premier League. The Argentine had a brief spell on the bench as he worked his way back up to full match fitness after the World Cup but started a run of four successive league games until dropping back to the bench against Leeds at the weekend.
Sabitzer only arrived on loan from Bayern Munich late in transfer deadline day, a response from United to long-term injury suffered by key midfielder Christian Eriksen. The Austrian has probably already played more than he would have expected to at this stage, thrown into the deep end to make up for Casemiro’s Premier League suspension and impressing in two starts against Leeds.
The reason for the double omission is a simple one: suspension.
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Martinez picked up three yellow cards during the Europa League group stage, going into the book on matchdays one, three and six, the latter triggering a suspension for the next game, which happens to be this week’s clash with Barcelona.
Sabitzer find himself in a similar position even though he has only just joined United and hasn’t played in the Europa League so far this season. His three yellow cards for parent club Bayern in the Champions League group stage, including one playing against Barcelona, carry over into the Europa League and mean he cannot play this week.
Both players will be eligible for the return leg at Old Trafford next Thursday instead.
On this edition of The Promised Land, part of the 90min podcast network, Scott Saunders & Rob Blanchette look ahead to Barcelona vs Man Utd in the Europa League, Casemiro's return, the race to buy the club & more. If you can't see this embed, click here to listen to the podcast!
Man Utd travelling squad vs Barcelona - Europa League
Goalkeepers: David De Gea, Tom Heaton, Jack Butland.
Defenders: Victor Lindelof, Harry Maguire, Tyrell Malacia, Raphael Varane, Diogo Dalot, Luke Shaw, Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
Midfielders: Bruno Fernandes, Fred, Casemiro, Facundo Pellistri, Zidane Iqbal, Kobbie Mainoo.
Forwards: Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Wout Weghorst, Anthony Elanga, Alejandro Garnacho.
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Source : 90min