The Old Trafford club will be looking to keep the winning momentum going and retain the title ahead of their Premier League opener against Tottenham Hotspur on August 8 following a disappointing season, where they finished at fourth behind Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal.
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The Barca coach preferred to look at bad luck in attack, highlighting his side had “hit the post three times and we are not as clinical as usual with our shooting, but the posts are part of the game“.
“You have seen him [David De Gea] in the first 60 minutes, in spite of his injury, he didn’t train for a week, that he can show his quality already in this game”.
But the unsettled 27-year-old was not in the US for Saturday’s 3-1 win over Barcelona in Santa Clara and neither was Marcos Rojo, who had been also been given extended leave following the Copa America.
Global soccer sensation Lionel Messi and the fleet-footed Neymar didn’t make the trip to the U.S. for the preseason tournament, but Barca’s Luis Suarez and Man United captain Wayne Rooney offered plenty of exciting moments to make today’s friendly feel like a championship event.
Moments later the Barca goal was under siege again, but resolute defending ensured Young, Rooney and Juan Mata were all kept at bay.
Young almost registered his name on the score-sheet in the 28th minute when the United winger forced Barcelona’s Marc-André ter Stegen into a unorthodox stop. “It hurt both teams”.
Less than three minutes later, United doubled their lead.
The field received new sod during the past week following a pair of recent concerts.
“The youth players of our academy, La Masia, he used them a lot and he was right because for the last 12 or 15 years those players have been the best players in our team”.
Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal heaped praise on unsettled goalkeeper David De Gea after the Spaniard returned from injury to thwart Barcelona. Schweinsteiger had appeared in the two previous exhibition games as a second-half substitute after joining his new team.
Van Gaal had expected Angel Di Maria to join the club Saturday but he wasn’t on the sideline.
“I think Barcelona could not cope with the threat of Depay and Rooney but I have to say that Adnan Januzaj was also a big threat for them in the 30 minutes that he played as a striker”, the Dutchman said to reporters.
“I have heard that he was not on the plane”, he reiterated.
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“They are very nice facilities”, Man United midfielder Juan Mata said Tuesday at Avaya.
