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Man Utd attacker Marcus Rashford has fired a warning shot at Barcelona, saying the Red Devils can “hurt” the La Liga giants at Old Trafford.

Rashford was on the scoresheet yet again as Man Utd drew 2-2 with the Catalan club in their Europa League first-leg meeting at Camp Nou on Thursday.

The forward levelled after ex-Chelsea defender Marcos Alonso opened the scoring for the hosts, with the visitors then quickly going into the lead after Jules Kounde found his own net.

Another former Premier League man in Raphinha then levelled the scores 14 minutes from time to set up a highly-anticipated return leg. Barcelona visit Old Trafford next Thursday.

Man Utd attacker sends Barcelona warning

Contents

1 Man Utd attacker sends Barcelona warning
- 1.1 Rashford reveals details behind near-post finish
  - 1.1.1 Man Utd and Barca preparing for busy periods

Rashford continued his phenomenal run of scoring on the night, with the 25-year-old now on 14 goals from his last 16 games. His brilliance also forced Barcelona defender Kounde into the error for Man Utd’s second goal of the thrilling encounter.

Man Utd have a league game with Leicester on Sunday before the second-leg, with Rashford confident that his team can hurt their opponents on Thursday.

“We have to move on now,” said Rashford, as reported by the Manchester Evening News. “This is a result that we can take back. We can definitely take back the performance. We have a league game in between but for the next game we know we can hurt them.

“It’s big moments that made the difference and I feel like especially in the second half we took them, but in the first half, we probably could have done more.”

Rashford reveals details behind near-post finish

Rashford’s warning comes after Barcelona boss Xavi issued a warning of his own before kick-off, telling his players to keep a particular eye on Rashford.

But they seemingly failed to listen as the striker levelled things up in the 52nd minute, with his drilled strike beating goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen at his near post.

The Barca number one may be disappointed with himself looking back, with Rashford now revealing the secret to his clinical finish after Fred’s excellent through ball.

“To be honest, I didn’t have that many options in terms of type of finishes,” said Rashford. “It’s either, go high to the near post or go low and I just felt maybe more of a chance going low from that angle. I just made my mind up and just ran through it and thankfully it went in.”

Man Utd

Man Utd and Barca preparing for busy periods

Barcelona also return to league action on Sunday with a home game against Cadiz, with Xavi’s outfit aiming to continue their title challenge. They currently sit top of La Liga on 56 points, eight ahead of rivals Real Madrid.

The two Spanish giants will go head to head three times in a short space of time, with the clubs facing off in a two-legged Copa del Rey semi-final tie, with a league meeting sandwiched in between.

Man Utd also have cup games upcoming, firstly against Newcastle in the League Cup final, followed by a fifth-round FA Cup tie with West Ham.