SOLSKJAER MUST GIVE IT A GO IN FREE-HIT TIE

MANCHESTER UNITED fans are realistic enough to know they were going to have the odd blip after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s perfect start to life at Old Trafford.

After three defeats from their last four games, this quarter-final against Barcelona is a free hit. If United had drawn Porto, there would have been expectation on United to win but, facing the best player in the world in Lionel Messi, the United fans just want their team to give it a go and cause Barca problems.

I don’t think United will be passive and the fans will forgive defeat as long as they make it close and competitive.

After Solskjaer assesses the injury situation, his big decision is whether to play Marcus Rashford and Romelu Lukaku. Ideally, you’d want to play them both centrally but going with a 4-4-2 or 3-5-2 means you are going to sacrifice possession in midfield. You may make more chances but you’ll see less of the ball, especially against a team such as Barcelona.

I wouldn’t be surprised therefore if it’s a case of Rashford or Lukaku rather than both. We know Lukaku can do a job wide but, when you have someone like Jesse Lingard, with his athleticism, tactical discipline and defensive work-rate, it would be a waste not to use him.

While the Old Trafford tourists will turn up to see Messi and the booboys will have Luis Suarez in their sights, I’ll be interested to see what impact Philippe Coutinho has. Coutinho has been linked with a move to United because his transfer from Liverpool hasn’t worked out as well as expected.

My view is United have more pressing priorities than the Brazilian, namely a midfield playmaker to finally replace Michael Carrick and a defensive leader in the mould of Virgil van Dijk — maybe Toby Alderweireld.