Barcelona dumped Manchester United out of the Champions League with a comfortable win at the Nou Camp (Picture: Getty)

Ruud Gullit believes Ole Gunnar Solskjaer made a ‘huge mistake’ in leaving it until the second leg to start attacking Barcelona with any real vigour.

Trailing 1-0 from the first leg, United had a promising start at the Nou Camp but Lionel Messi took centre stage with a quickfire brace as Barca took a giant step towards the Champions League semi-finals in the opening 45 minutes.

Philippe Coutinho’s exquisite long-range strike just past the hour mark put Barca out of sight and Ernesto Valverde’s side joined Ajax in the final four after the Dutch outfit defeated Juventus in Tuesday night’s other match.



Former Chelsea and Netherlands star Gullit criticised United for missing an opportunity at Old Trafford and leaving it until the second leg to pose any attacking threat.


‘Manchester United made a mistake I think, tactically,’ Gullit told beIN SPORTS after United’s defeat.

‘I can understand when you play at home that you want to score goals and be more adventurous and they decided not to do it in the first leg.

‘They succeeded half because of the own goal – Messi had no shots on target but then you go to the Nou Camp and all of a sudden you want to attack.

‘I don’t understand it because you’re not going to win in it then. Eventually on a pitch like that it’s difficult to play like that.

‘You can ask Liverpool or Chelsea who have done it… you can ask Atletico Madrid who have done it.

‘You’re not going to attack there and they did… and I think it was a huge mistake.’

Messi ran riot at the Nou Camp (Picture: Getty)

Jesse Lingard has admitted Messi brought his ‘A-game’ in the second leg to destroy United’s Champions League hopes.

‘You can’t make errors in these games,’ Lingard told BT Sport. We dominated for the first 15 minutes, we had chances and the game could have been different.

‘Lionel Messi brought his A-game tonight, he’s one of the best in the world. All we can do is move on, it’s a big week ahead.

‘We were always underdogs but we had to back ourselves and believe. Chances in these big games are massive.’

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