Barcelona make special Marcus Rashford plan as Xavi points out four “dangerous” qualities

Barcelona make special Marcus Rashford plan as Xavi points out four “dangerous” qualities

Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez has outlined what makes Marcus Rashford of Manchester United  “extremely, extremely dangerous” as his team formulates a strategy to counter the striker’s threat.

United secured a two-goal victory at Leeds on Sunday, with Rashford breaking the deadlock with a header from Luke Shaw’s cross. Five minutes later, substitute Alejandro Garnacho clinched the victory with a fine run and goal.

The England international’s header against Leeds was his 21st goal of the season, one short of his career high. Rashford has established himself as United’s leading attacker and is arguably the Premier League’s most in-form player.

Thursday evening at Camp Nou, Barcelona hosts United in the first leg of their Europa League quarterfinal matchup.

According to a report from Diario AS, Barca will deploy central defender Ronald Arajuo at right-back to combat the threat posed by Marcus Rashford, a similar tactic to how they dealt with Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior in El Clasico matches.

Xavi discussed Rashford’s threat during his press conference prior to the match at Camp Nou: “In the transition he is very, very dangerous so, yes, we need to take care of all of them but especially Rashford.

“He’s one of the most dangerous players now in Europe, yeah. He’s very fast, he has a very good at dribbling in one-versus-one.”

Xavi was also very complimentary of his United boss Erik ten Hag. United have advanced to the final of the EFL Cup and the fifth round of the FA Cup as they look to end their six-year trophy drought. This season, they are the only European club still competing on four fronts.

During his tenure at Ajax, Ten Hag won six trophies, including three Eredivisie titles. He is now attempting to win United’s first trophy since 2017. He has won 26 of his 36 matches at the helm for a 72.2 percent winning percentage.

“Ten Hag is a great coach,” Xavi added. “In my mind I believe that somehow [reversing] the situation of United was no easy task and he’s accomplishing it.

“They are excited again, the club, the fanbase and also the way they play does a lot. He changes things offensively, defensively, everyone’s working very well, so it’s a tough rival for us and he’s a very interesting coach.”

Barcelona make special Marcus Rashford plan as Xavi points out four “dangerous” qualities