Manchester United welcome the Spanish champions to Old Trafford this evening for the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie.
Barcelona go into the match having lost only twice since the turn of the year, a run which has in large part been down to Lionel Messi’s goalscoring exploits.
The Argentina international has scored a staggering 43 goals in 40 appearances this season, a stat which has struck fear into the hearts of Manchester United fans ahead of tonight’s match.
According to former midfielder Quinton Fortune, a United supporter who works at immigration at Manchester airport was so worried about the little magician she planned on telling him she wouldn’t let him in the country.
“Just landed back in sunny Manchester,” the former United defender tweeted on Monday.
“The lady at passport control was very kind and promised me that she won’t let Messi in @ManUtd fans are the best #BELIEVE.”
Messi’s fine form this season has propelled Barcelona to the top of the La Liga table, which they currently top by 11 points.
United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been impressed by what he’s seen of the 31-year-old this campaign but refuses to believe he’s unstoppable.
“He’s a fantastic player and he will go down in the history (of football) as one of the best individual players ever,” Solskjaer said of Messi.
“He will be difficult to stop but it is never impossible. It’s not like it’s Messi against Man United – it’s Suarez, Coutinho, Rakitic, Vidal.
“There’s so many good players, we cannot just focus on one player. We know we have to play against 11 of them.”
The Norwegian is hoping Messi’s presence will bring the best out of his players, adding: “This season we’ve played against Juventus and Ronaldo, PSG with Mbappe.
“We’ve had Chelsea and Hazard, Neymar didn’t play against us.
“I think the better an opponent – Suarez as well and Coutinho and Messi will keep our defenders on their toes, so let’s see how we manage tomorrow.”
United defender Chris Smalling is looking forward to testing himself against the four-time Ballon d’Or winner, saying: “It’s something to relish, I think.
“This season I’ve been lucky enough to face Cristiano Ronaldo [for Juventus], Kylian Mbappé [PSG] and they’re all challenges I definitely relish and players at this club relish.
“I say bring it on.”
Former United boss Sir Alex Ferguson believes the England international is key to ensuring Messi doesn’t run amok at the Theatre of Dreams, writing in his 2013 autobiography: “You need centre-backs who are prepared to drop right on top of Messi and not worry about what is happening behind them.
“He will drift away to the side. That’s fine. He’s less of a threat on the side than he is through the centre.
“After the inquest, I told myself: ‘When we play Barcelona next time in a Champions League final, I would have Jones and Smalling, or Smalling and Evans, right on top of Messi. I wasn’t going to let him torture us again.”
