Despite suffering a 1-0 defeat at home to the Liga giants in the Champions League, a French midfielder believes the Red Devils can reach the last four

Paul Pogba claims Manchester United know how to beat Barcelona at Camp Nou as the Red Devils eye another Champions League comeback.

United lost 1-0 against Barca at Old Trafford on Wednesday – Luke Shaw’s 12th-minute own goal settling the first-leg quarter-final clash.

Having overturned a 2-0 first-leg deficit to reach the quarters at the expense of Paris Saint-Germain last month, United face another uphill battle away to Barca next week.

However, French star Pogba – who has been linked with Real Madrid – believes in United’s chances against Barca.

“It was a good game, obviously we’re playing against Barcelona, one of the best teams in the world,” Pogba told reporters. “But we gave them some problems as well, they gave us some problems but we know where we can hurt them.

“Now it’s one leg gone, we have the other one and we’re going to give everything in this one. We’re going to do everything we can to make it happen and we believe it.

“They didn’t really have a lot of chances, maybe one when David [De Gea] made a great save. But after that they weren’t that dangerous, not a lot of chances.”

Asked if he expected to see so many cracks in Barca’s game, Pogba replied: “That’s what we saw in the videos.

“We know that they are a very, very strong team offensively. One of the best in the world of course. But all teams have flaws. We know what their flaws are so we’re going to target that next game.”

Romelu Lukaku scored twice as United stunned PSG 3-1 in the return leg of their last-16 tie in March, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side progressing on away goals.

Lukaku, who struggled against Barca midweek, knows the La Liga champions are a different proposition compared to PSG.

“With all due respect to the PSG, we were very lucky that evening in Paris,” Lukaku said. “Against Barcelona, it will be much more difficult and we know that we will have to be stronger than we were in Paris.”

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The shot-stopper has made three errors leading to goals in his last four appearances, and cost the Reds two points at Old Trafford on Sunday

If David de Gea is dropped by Manchester United, the club could lose their number one “forever” according to Graeme Souness.

De Gea spilled a simple Antonio Rudiger shot two minutes before half-time when United took on Chelsea at Old Trafford on Sunday to allow Marcos Alonso a close-range equaliser. 

The blunder came after mistakes against Barcelona and Manchester City also cost the Reds, and De Gea has now made three errors that have led to goals in his last four appearances.

But Ole Gunnar Solskjaer insisted after the game that he was right not to drop De Gea against Chelsea , and Souness agrees it would be a mistake to remove the Spain international from the team. 

“You leave him out, I think you lose him forever,” Souness said on Sky Sports .

“There would still be a queue for him. If Ole was to leave him out, and he brought in someone who didn’t do well, you’ve then lost the guy you’ve trusted for seven, eight years. And you’d end up having to buy someone else.

“You’ve got to stick with him. Credit is a big thing in football. The supporters love him and you saw that at half-time.”

Red Devils legend Gary Neville also believes De Gea should retain the number one spot, citing the 28-year-old’s impressive form in recent seasons for United.

“There are some players who build up enough credit during their careers, that you play them through,” Neville said.

“Let’s say Wayne Rooney had a bad time – didn’t score in 12 games for Manchester United. If he’s had five, six years at the club playing like he has, you don’t just ditch someone like that after five, six, seven games. It’s not a young player coming into the club that’s struggling. 

“He [De Gea] has been outstanding. He’s been the best player at Manchester United, the only top player at Manchester United for the last five or six years.”

The slip-up from De Gea cost his team a valuable two points that would have drawn them level with fourth-placed Chelsea, but they now remain three points adrift of the Champions League qualifications places with two games remaining. 

Our Fantasy writer looks back on the latest double gameweek and picks out the 11 best players including stars from Manchester City, Wolves, and more

Another double gameweek has come and gone and, whilst it was interesting, it was perhaps not as exciting as Fantasy owners would have hoped. The attacking players largely failed to provide the returns that people dream of in these kinds of situations

It wasn’t just the forwards that were disappointing though as no player, regardless of position, managed to cross the 20 point threshold over two matches. In fact, Ayoze Perez finished with the most points this round, and he only needed 90 minutes to manage it, not 180.

The defenders were the closest to matching expectation, especially those from Manchester City who were the only players to record two clean sheets, but none of them recorded a goal or assist to push them over the top. On the whole, this double gameweek will likely fail to stick in the memory but you can find the 11 best performers from this round below in our Goal Premier League Team of the Week.

GK: Ederson – Manchester City – 2 Games, 5 Saves, 2 Clean Sheets = 16 Points

DEF: Matt Doherty – Wolves, 2 Games, 1 Goal, 1 Goal Conceded, 1 Clean Sheet = 15 Points

Doherty has become a Fantasy hero in his first Premier League season, but things had cooled significantly for him of late of late. In fact, the Wolves defender failed to record a single attacking return in the previous eight matches, but that streak came to an end with his headed goal against Arsenal on Wednesday.

Having directly contributed towards eight goals on the season (4g, 4a), Andrew Robertson is the only defender to have been a part of more goals (9a). With that, and a fairly kind next couple of fixtures (Watford and Fulham) Doherty looks a great own until matchweek 38 when they face Liverpool who will likely need to win that match to have a shot at the title.

DEF: Kyle Walker – Manchester City – 2 Games, 2 Clean Sheets = 14 Points

DEF: Jonny – Wolves – 2 Games, 2 Assists, 1 Goal Conceded, 1 Clean Sheet = 14 Points

DEF: Aymeric Laporte – Manchester City – 2 Games, 2 Clean Sheets = 14 Points

The Manchester City defence has been dominant of late, and Laporte has been at the centre of all of it. They’ve now kept four clean sheets in the last five weeks, including massive wins against Tottenham and Manchester United. While Laporte doesn’t offer the attacking returns of others in the game, being an ever-present in the second-best defence in the league is more than enough for the Frenchman to be considered an elite Fantasy defender.

His 143 points are the most of any non-Liverpool defender and considering he costs at least £1.0m less than Virgil van Dijk and Andrew Robertson, Laporte is a value despite a £7.2m price tag. He’s just shy of a must-own but, regardless of whether it’s him or not, you should definitely own a Manchester City defender for the run-in.

DEF: Lucas Digne – Everton – 1 Game, 1 Goal, 1 Clean Sheet = 14 Points

MID: Gerard Deulofeu – Watford – 2 Games, 2 Goals = 16 Points

The second match wasn’t exactly inspiring, but Deulofeu’s brace against Huddersfield was more than enough to make him the best midfielder in the Goal game this week. This shouldn’t exactly have come as a surprise though as, of his nine goals this season, seven of them have come against Cardiff and Huddersfield.

The Spaniard has inarguably grown as a player this year, but he just hasn’t done the business against the rest of the league. With no smaller clubs left for Watford in 2018/19, it’s probably wise to avoid Deulofeu until August.

MID: Gylfi Sigurdsson – Everton – 1 Game, 1 Goal, 1 Assist = 11 Points

MID: Bernardo Silva – Man City – 2 Games, 1 Goal = 10 Points

FOR: Ayoze Perez – Newcastle – 1 Game, 3 Goals = 17 Points

You hate to reduce a team performance to just one individual but Perez’s goals over the past two weeks have basically ensured Newcastle’s safety. The forward’s form had already been improving of late as he’s netted an impressive eight times in the second half of the season, which is top-five in the league.

In Fantasy, this has seen Perez soar up the scoring charts and he has now scored more points than any other forward at his price (£7.1m) or higher. It’s always hard to fit a “budget” striker into your front line since there are only three available slots but, even if he doesn’t make your squad, he still gets the title of Goal Player of the Week.

FOR: Christian Benteke – Crystal Palace – 1 Game, 1 Goal, 1 Assist = 10 Points

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For a coach that has been far from gun-shy at the selection table this year, Nick Stiles looks to have finally found his best XV.

He has made just one change to the starting XV that beat the Rebels two weeks ago and it was a forced one – Campbell Magnay failing to overcome a concussion – his third significant head knock in the last two years.

With Izaia Perese in Georgia for the World Rugby U20s Championships, Chris Kuridrani gets the nod in Magnay’s place on the right wing.

The other changes come on the bench.

James Tuttle comes back into the 23 ahead of Moses Sorovi, Maranta replaces Perese and Jake McIntyre comes in for Hamish Stewart, who is also in Georgia.

“I really feel now that the team has settled down and we’ve got some really good combinations,” Stiles said.

“The team has played relatively well over the last month.

“We’ve beaten the Kings and Rebels, everyone would probably say that we should have beaten the Tahs as well.

“In the last four games we could have had three wins.

“Now we have four games to go and there’s a lot to play for – both for here now and for the future of the organisation.”

The math for the Reds is simple.

Despite having only won one less game than the Australian Conference-leading Brumbies, ACT have notched seven bonus points – many of them in close losses – to Queensland’s four.

That puts the Reds seven points back, meaning a win on Friday night against the Force is non-negotiable.

If they lose and the Brumbies beat the Jaguares in Argentina, their season will be over.

The inverse of those results would put the Reds in prime position to put their noses in front in the final bounds of the season.

They travel to Samoa to face a Blues team due to play the British and Irish Lions four days later, before hosting the Brumbies upon returning from the June break.

That is then followed with a near-impossible final round task – a road trip to Dunedin to face the red hot Highlanders.

Stiles doesn’t want to look too far ahead but said his players were aware this was a do-or-die clash against a Force side that has had the Reds’ measure for many years.

The round two clash between these teams was one of Queensland’s worst performances of the year and a fuming Stiles labelled the performance as “atrocious” in the aftermath.

“I showed them the last few minutes of that game yesterday afternoon before we trained.

“It was a bit of a wake up call for the guys.

“For those of you that have seen training, you would have seen the intensity and the physicality through the boys’ efforts and that’s the most important thing – that we got right this week.

“The Reds over history, have rocked up at the game (against the Force) and felt like we would just win it.

“That’s not doing justice to the Western Force – they’re a competitive side, they’re desperate, they compete for everything and you have got to be as desperate as them.”

The Reds host the Force on Friday night, kicking off at 7:45pm AEST LIVE on FOX SPORTS and via radio on RUGBY.com.au.

TEAM

IN: Chris Kuridrani, Lachlan Maranta, James Tuttle, Jake McIntyre

OUT: Campbell Magnay (concussion), Izaia Perese (U20s), Hamish Stewart (U20s), Moses Sorovi

1. Sef Fa’agase

2. Stephen Moore

3. Sam Talakai

4. Rob Simmons

5. Lukhan Tui

6. Hendrik Tui

7. George Smith

8. Scott Higginbotham

9. Nick Frisby

10. Quade Cooper

11. Eto Nabuli

12. Duncan Paia’aua

13. Samu Kerevi (C)

14. Chris Kuridrani

15. Karmichael Hunt

Reserves

16. Alex Mafi 

17. Kirwan Sanday

18. Taniela Tupou

19. Izack Rodda

20. Adam Korczyk

21. James Tuttle

22. Jake McIntyre

23. Lachlan Maranta

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The Waratahs went down to the Lions in Sydney on Friday night.

What are we talking about after that?

1. Waratahs have work to do

The Waratahs have beaten all comers in the Australian Super Rugby conference but when it comes to the big overseas hitters, there’s more to do. Their first scoreless match in Super Rugby, biggest loss to the Lions ever and their first loss to the Lions in Sydney. It was a rude wake-up call for the Waratahs, ahead of their bye and a run of four straight matches against Kiwi opposition. If they can’t improve on Friday night’s effort against the Lions, then a strong start to the year will quickly become meaningless.

2. Waratahs’ spark dimmed

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Even Waratahs coach Daryl Gibson admitted his side looked slow at times against the Lions. It’s a far cry from the relatively zippy high-tempo NSW that has been running out games far better than in recent seasons. This was not the NSW we saw tonight – one of the competition’s best attacking sides this year failed to score at all for the first time ever and they were on the back foot the whole day.

3. Back row reshuffle hurts

Waratahs coach Daryl Gibson opted to throw Ned Hanigan into six and bench Will Miller for the Lions match, and they seemed to lack mobility without Miler there. Though that was not the only thing the Waratahs were lacking and they talked about it down post-match, you couldn’t help but feel that his injection may have just been a handy one, rather than opting for taller timber.

4. Set piece found out

The Waratahs found some confidence in their set piece on Friday night, with some crucial scrum penalties, but that positivity was unravelled swiftly at lineout time, with four lineouts lost on their throw. It’s an issue that was pinpointed as a possible weakness in the preseason but they appeared to be punching above their weight. The Lions saw to it that they were put back in their division on Friday night, a tough lesson for the home team.

5. Lions not going away

They’ve made the Super Rugby final the past two seasons and the Lions started their month-long tour of Australia and New Zealand in the perfect way with their win over the Waratahs. Their first win in Sydney and the first time they have held the Waratahs scoreless. They’ll be tested in New Zealand but they’re going to be up among the top echelon of teams.

The Hurricanes have reached the Super Rugby semi-finals for a fifth straight season after holding out the hard-charging Bulls 35-28 in Wellington.

The South African visitors threatened to overhaul a 24-7 deficit in a thrilling quarter-final on Saturday but a Hurricanes side inspired by milestone men Beauden Barrett and TJ Perenara held their nerve.

It sets up a daunting semi-final against title favourites the Crusaders in Christchurch, with the Hurricanes desperate to reverse last year’s result in the same fixture.

Captain Dane Coles called on his pack to step up again, delighted with most of their work against the robust Bulls forwards.

“That African mentality, you’ve got to beat up the bully, I suppose. We tried to do that and I’m just stoked we got the result,” he said.

“The set piece was a big one. The scrum wasn’t perfect but I thought we negated their drive pretty well. The boys got stuck in.”

The Hurricanes will also need more vintage form from All Blacks halves Barrett and Perenara, who were central figures in numerous attacking raids at Westpac Stadium.

It was the 100th Super Rugby appearance shared by the pair – the most by any halves combination – while Perenara joined Ma’a Nonu and Conrad Smith as the most capped Hurricanes players with 126 games.

Both teams scored four tries but the Hurricanes slotted three penalty goals to register a 13th straight home win over South African opposition.

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The Bulls, making their first finals appearance in six years, crossed early through fullback Warrick Gelant while winger Cornal Hendricks bagged himself an impressive try in each half.

They truly launched themselves into contention when awarded a penalty try midway through the second spell, after Hurricanes winger Salesi Rayasi was deemed to have deliberately knocked down a pass. Rayasi was also shown a yellow card.

That was a black mark on an eventful night for the rookie, who crossed either side of halftime after entering as a substitute for the injured Wes Goosen.

Perenara and winger Ben Lam snared the early Hurricanes tries but they were forced to call on two late penalty goals from Jordie Barrett to keep the Bulls at bay.

Departing Bulls skipper Handre Pollard praised his team for their fighting spirit after a travel-heavy finish to the season.

The competition’s leading point-scorer is leaving for French outfit Montpellier after the World Cup, ending six seasons with the Pretoria-based side.

“I’ve made some great memories,” he said.

“I grew as a player and grew as a person. I’ll always be grateful for that.”

RESULT

Hurricanes 35

Tries: Rayasi 2, Perenara, Lam

Cons: B Barrett 3

Pens: B Barrett 3

Bulls 28

Tries: Hendricks 2, Gelant, Penalty

Cons: Pollard 3

Brumbies coach Dan McKellar has taken a philosophical view of his side’s loss to the Rebels, calling on his players to mark the match as a turning point.

The Brumbies are now 1-2 following losses to the Reds and Rebels, with their solitary win against the Sunwolves hardly an eye catching performance to boot.

But McKellar is long off hitting the panic button, pointing to the 33-10 loss as a match that will provide an opportunity for his side to “grow”.

“While we would like to be three from three, we have been on the road now for a long period of time and we look forward to getting home now and playing in front of our fans and our family,” McKellar said.

“You can look at these moments and be really glum about them or you can think – this is an opportunity for us to learn and to grow.

“We have areas that we have to improve on but its early days, we will get back have a quick review and move onto the Sharks.”

The Rebels ran away with the match when Les Makin was yellow carded in the 63rd minute – scoring three tries during his stint in the bin – and McKellar felt his side had the better of the 60 minutes prior to that.

“It was a decent start,” he said.

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“There were a couple of opportunities there in our maul that we didn’t execute but I thought in the first 20 minutes we certainly showed signs of dominance.

“We lost our way there, a little bit, from 20 to 40 where they got back in the game with a couple of tries.

“And then I thought in the first 20 minutes of the second half we were the dominant side.

“We started to see signs of how we wanted to play.

“Sin bin – three tries during that period – whilst the sin bin was there and they took their opportunities.”McKellar was also a touch displeased with some foul play decisions made by referee Will Houston – particularly an incident in which Dane Haylett-Petty took Andy Muirhead out in the air and avoided a card.

“Our fullback was taken out in the air and lands on his head,” McKellar said.

“I’ve seen that happen in the past and it’s been a red card so just little things like that didn’t go our way.

“I will have a chat to Lyndon about a couple of things there.

“I’m certainly not blaming referees or anything like that.

“You have to give credit to the opposition and Melbourne played well.“They’re in a purple patch at the moment and as we are trying to change a few things at the moment, it’s going to take time.”

McKellar praised the work of his young brigade, who injected some fresh energy into a Brumbies attack that spluttered through the second quarter of the match.

“Our bench, I was really proud of our young players,” he said.

“I thought Folau Faingaa in his debut for the Brumbies and first game of Super Rugby – he was outstanding – as was Faalelei Sione.

“I thought our bench – Andy Muirhead – they added real spark in the 40 to 60 minute period there.”

Sam Carter will have to pass concussion tests if he is to face the Sharks next Saturday but it appears as though ACT will be without Josh Mann-Rea, who has hurt his hamstring.

Bulls prop Pierre Schoeman has been banned for six weeks for biting Melbourne Rebel Richard Hardwick during their 28-10 Super Rugby win in Pretoria.

Schoeman pleaded guilty in a hearing held via video conference on Tuesday.

“Having conducted a detailed review of all the available evidence, including all camera angles and additional evidence, including from the player and submissions from his legal representative, the Judicial Committee accepted the player’s guilty plea,” said SANZAAR committee chairman Adam Casselden.

Schoeman’s ban rules him out of five Super Rugby matches, as well as a potential international debut for South Africa against Wales in Washington DC on June 2.

Schoeman bit back row Hardwick on the stomach during Saturday’s match.

Although not punished on the field, Schoeman was issued an off-field red card by the competition’s citing commissioner for alleged foul play.

The Rebels said their captain Tom English had alerted the on-field referee to the bite when Schoeman and Hardwick clashed in the 58th minute.

“Melbourne Rebels club captain Tom English at the time of incident appealed to the referee and gestured towards the evidence on Hardwick’s stomach, however the initial penalty call against Hardwick was upheld,” a Rebels spokesman said in a statement emailed to Reuters.

In 2016, Argentina loose forward Leonardo Senatore was suspended for 10 weeks after being found guilty of biting the arm of a Sharks opponent when playing for the Jaguares in a Super Rugby match.

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Schoeman was given a more lenient sentence that took into account mitigating factors including the player’s “early guilty plea, his good character, his good disciplinary record and his remorse,” Casselden said.

Tender ribs have forced the Hurricanes to leave flanker Ardie Savea and centre Matt Proctor out of their Super Rugby match against the Melbourne Rebels.

In more positive injury news, Vaea Fifita is back from a shoulder niggle and will start Friday’s match in Melbourne against the table-topping Rebels.

Coach Chris Boyd confirmed Savea and Proctor had both suffered rib damage in last week’s 29-12 defeat of the Highlanders – a third straight Hurricanes win after they lost their opener to the Bulls.

Counties Manukau openside flanker Sam Henwood will make his Hurricanes debut in place of Savea, having played twice previously for the Chiefs.

Vince Aso comes off the bench to replace centre Proctor, reuniting the brilliant midfield pairing of 2017.

Last year Aso scored 14 Super Rugby tries, a figure only bettered by teammate Ngani Laumape’s competition record-equalling 15.

Fifita comes in for Scotsman Murray Douglas at lock.

Two changes to the backline reserves see Jamie Booth replacing Richard Judd and Wes Goosen take Aso’s berth after recovering from an ankle injury.

The Hurricanes could have their hands full in the first trans-Tasman clash of 2018.

The Rebels have averaged nearly six tries per game in winning four of five matches to top the overall standings.

TEAM

Hurricanes to face Rebels

1. Chris Eves

2. Ricky Riccitelli

3. Ben May

4. Vaea Fifita

5. Sam Lousi

6. Brad Shields

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7. Sam Henwood

8. Gareth Evans 

9. TJ Perenara

10. Beauden Barrett

11. Ben Lam

12. Ngani Laumape

13. Vince Aso

14. Julian Savea

15. Jordie Barrett

Reserves

16. Asafo Aumua

17. Fraser Armstrong

18. Jeffery Toomaga-Allen

19. Michael Fatialofa

20. Reed Prinsep

21. Jamie Booth,

22. Ihaia West

23. Wes Goosen.

The Reds were well beaten by the Blues in Jerome Kaino’s farewell.

What did we learn from the 39-16 result?

1. Terrific Tupou on the up

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Taniela Tupou forced three scrum penalties in his 45 minute stint, completely dominating Blues loosehead Alex Hodgman. His scrummaging seemingly improves every week and the longer he performs like this, the more Wallabies coach Michael Cheika must be considering his prospects as a starting tighthead at the next level.

2. Tui in thumping form

Lukhan Tui was a shining light in an otherwise dark night for the Reds. He was the first player whacking the opposition in the opening exchanges and his carries were the only ones making an indent in the Blues defensive line. Looks to have taken plenty of confidence from a brilliant performance in the third and final June Test.

3. Only officiating consistency is inconsistency

Jerome Kaino escaped punishment for two dubious tackles in the first half and Caleb Timu was also lucky to avoid time in the sin bin for a high shot in the second term. Throw these misses in with four yellow cards handed out by referee Egon Seconds and TMO Ben Skeen and you have incompetence turning plenty of fans away 

4. Sorovi, Stewart on the nose

Moses Sorovi and Hamish Stewart looked to be the Reds’ next halves but they were hooked after 45 minutes of ordinary football on Friday. Sorovi made some uncharacteristic mistakes through the first term and Stewart didn’t really have an impression with the limited ball Queensland had in the first term. It’s very rare to see halves pulled that early.

5. Reds failing to move forward

At this point last year (round 17), the Reds had won four games. They have won the same amount 12 months on. They have blooded some new talent but only three of their starting XV tonight – Brandon Paenga-Amosa, Harry Hockings and Jordan Petaia – earned their first cap this year. The majority of their young stars – Taniela Tupou, Izack Rodda, Hamish Stewart, Lukhan Tui and Izaia Perese – have been blooded in years prior. The loss to the Blues will have many asking whether they have made any strides at all and looking at results alone, the answer to that question won’t please many Reds fans.