Barcelona vs Manchester United: Overcoming White Trauma

The colour white is considered auspicious in many cultures but for Man Utd fans of a certain vintage, it will always be reminiscent of footballing trauma and abject humiliation.

The colour white is considered auspicious in many cultures but for Man Utd fans of a certain vintage, it will always be reminiscent of footballing trauma and abject humiliation. For that was what United was wearing on that fateful night in Rome. The year was 2009. A year earlier Manchester United had won the Champions League after nine years and had inarguably the best team in Europe. 

In Cristiano Ronaldo, they had the greatest player of that generation – to borrow the epochally Shakespearean lines of Peter Drury – a trembling teenager of touch and tease who had metamorphosed into the best player in the world. It seemed like we had the best players in every single position from Van Der Saar in goal, Vidic and Ferdinand in defence, and Carrick and Scholes and Rooney and Tevez up front. To that team, Sir Alex Ferguson had added the Andy Garcia lookalike Dimitar Berbatov, a player who caressed the ball like he was about to have the most amazing coitus. Meanwhile, Lionel Messi was still coming of age and the smart money was on United becoming the first team to retain the new Champions League.

What followed was completely different as Barcelona scored an early goal and then gave a footballing masterclass that haunts Manchester United fans to this day. All I remember from that night are hazy memories. Xavi, Iniesta, and Messi created so many cute passing triangles that at times the triangle started feeling like a sentient being. It was as if the United players were not allowed to touch the ball. Since then, I’ve detested Barcelona and all that tiki-taka stands for, cheering when Mourinho used dry grass, volcanic cloud, and a policeman named Esteban Cambiasso to stop Messi.

Since then, a lot of water has flown under the bridge. In a post-Ronaldo, post-Messi era, both teams found themselves in dire straits, two footballing giants forced into the humiliation of facing each other in the Round 32 of the Europa League. Yet there is something new brewing at both clubs. At Barcelona, the former midfield general Xavi is going about creating his own dynasty around the likes of Gavi and Pedri. At United, Erik Ten Hag finally seems to have pulled United out of the post-Fergie funk getting rid of an ageing Ronaldo and making Manchester United play something that resembles attacking football.

Amid this backdrop, the two teams clashed at Camp Nou in what will be long remembered as a chaotic and enthralling contest that ended 2-2. Rashford was on fire, playing like the in-form player in Europe as he bamboozled Barcelona defenders with his runs. Barcelona had only conceded nine goals in the league this season but Xavi’s defensive calls will long be pondered about this. Alonso was both the hero and the villain scoring a goal but being at his sixes and sevens in defence.

With a proper number 9 – Weghorst does a lot of work creating space and is the perfect foil to Rashford – United could’ve won this contest easily. In fact, they will hate that they conceded and it ended 2-2 but for United fans of a certain vintage, the colour white will no longer be a traumatic reminder of being outplayed by Barcelona. United might get knocked out at Old Trafford when the teams meet in the reverse fixture but the outing at Camp Nou was a reminder of the many, many glorious European nights. Hopefully, we will see a few of them again with Manchester United.