Erik ten Hag reminds BT Sport pundits of Liverpool defeat after Man Utd win
Erik ten Hag led Manchester United to a Europa League win over Barcelona on Thursday night, two days after Liverpool were beaten by Real Madrid in the Champions League
Erik ten Hag cited Real Madrid’s overwhelming victory over Manchester United’s arch-rivals Liverpool after his side defeated Barcelona to advance to the Europa League round of 16.
The Red Devils came from behind to defeat Barca 2-1 and 4-3 on aggregate at Old Trafford on Thursday night. The result came two days after Liverpool suffered a humiliating 5-2 win at home to Los Blancos in the Champions League, giving up a two-goal lead when their defense was torn apart.
Remarkably, Real Madrid are eight points behind leaders Barca in the La Liga title race, making United’s win over the Catalan club even more impressive. A feisty Ten Hag made every effort to mention that fact during his post-match interview on another historic European night for his club.
“Barcelona are top of the table in La Liga – eight points ahead of Real Madrid,” he told BT Sport. “We saw what Real Madrid did this week. I think it’s a great win, yes, that we beat them (Barcelona).”
Those comments came after Ten Hag said the win over the five-time European champions was the biggest of his blossoming tenure in United’s hot seat. He said: “We’ve had some good wins – Liverpool and Arsenal at home – really good wins but I think this [is the best] over two legs, a tie.”
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United had their backs to the wall for most of the first half but Antony’s substitution at the break for Wout Weghorst helped turn the tide in his side’s favour. Alejandro Garnacho also made a big impression after coming on for Jadon Sancho in the second half after Fred’s equalizer canceled out Robert Lewandowski’s penalty.
“Of course that was one of the parts, one of our game plans,” said Ten Hag of his substitutions. “We know if we can bring Antony, we can bring Garnacho, you get speed and run after. You get dribbles and you get confidence.
“And they’re so brave, both of them, they don’t care, they’re not afraid of anyone, especially when you go to the Stretford End, they pick up players and run after them and I think that gives a boost to the whole team.”
Fred has been widely criticized in recent seasons but equalized just seconds after the restart with a right-footed – and slightly battered – shot from the edge of the box. “What he’s really good at is running backwards at the right moment and time,” Ten Hag said of Fred. “He can get behind Barcelona midfielders and that was part of our game plan at Barcelona and now again. I think it was really effective to do that from the second row, the runs.”