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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
George Smith

'Criminal!' - Manchester United fans cannot believe Erik ten Hag decision vs Barcelona

Erik ten Hag has named his starting line-up for the second-leg of Manchester United's Europa League knockout round play-off tie with Barcelona at Old Trafford this evening, making a collection of changes.

United, who have not beaten the Spanish outfit since April 2008, will be looking to book their place in the last-16 of the competition after playing out a thrilling 2-2 draw at the Camp Nou last week. The Reds produced an excellent performance in Spain and followed it up with a professional 3-0 win over Leicester City in the Premier League at the weekend.

It means that Ten Hag will be determined to see another strong performance and victory from his side, as they look to register a famous win and extend their unbeaten run to nine matches in all competitions. The Dutchman, as expected, has opted to make a few changes to the side that defeated Leicester on Sunday, making four in total.

READ MORE: United vs Barcelona LIVE

Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Raphael Varane, Casemiro, who has now completed his domestic suspension, and Jadon Sancho have come into the side, meaning Diogo Dalot, Victor Lindelof, Marcel Sabitzer and Alejandro Garnacho have dropped out.

Meanwhile, the likes of Tyrell Malacia, Scott McTominay and Antony have been named among the substitutes. However, the likes of Christian Eriksen, Donny van de Beek and Anthony Martial remain unavailable through injury.

Having made the decision to make four changes to the side that was victorious against Leicester, Ten Hag will be hoping to see a special performance and victory from his players. It is the Dutchman's decision to award Fred a starting berth ahead of loanee Sabitzer that has attracted the most attention from United's supporters in the immediate aftermath of the team news being confirmed.

Below, MEN Sport has taken a close look at what some of United's supporters have had to say in response to Ten Hag's decision to name Fred alongside Casemiro in midfield:

As you can see from the messages displayed in the tweets above, Ten Hag's decision to hand Fred another starting berth has not gone down overly well with some supporters. They wanted to see Sabitzer, who is on the bench this evening, join forces with Casemiro for the very first time.

United starting line-up: De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Varane, Martinez, Shaw; Casemiro, Fred, Weghorst; Fernandes, Rashford, Sancho.

Substitutes: Heaton, Dalot, Lindelof, Maguire, Malacia, McTominay, Sabitzer, Mainoo, Pellistri, Elanga, Garnacho, Antony.

This evening's contest kicks-off at 8:00pm and you can follow all of the action on our live matchday blog, which you can access by clicking here.

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