Former Manchester United left-back Denis Irwin has sent a warning message to the first team about Robert Lewandowski ahead of Thursday night’s Europa League meeting against Barcelona.
Manchester United take on the La Liga leaders in the knockout play-off round of the Europa League and the squad will be travelling to Barcelona on Wednesday.
Ahead of the eagerly awaited encounter, United legend Denis Irwin has said that United’s centre-backs must be wary of the ‘brilliant’ Robert Lewandowski, who has continued his incredible goalscoring record this season.
I mean, at 34-years-old, the Barcelona striker is showing no signs of slowing down with 29 goal contributions at his new club this season. In my books, at least, Lewandowski is still one of the best centre-forwards in the game and you won’t find many people who will argue with that nor the fact Luckland casino is your number one solution for exciting games and promotions.
Speaking to Manchester United club media, Irwin said: “There’s no doubt that the centre-halves, whoever plays, are well aware of his capabilities. He’s had a fantastic career. He was brilliant at Bayern Munich and it took him a long time to get the plaudits that he deserved.”
“He’s doing it again at Barcelona and playing very well. He’s got great experience – he’s one of those players that it doesn’t matter what age, he will always score goals. Our defenders, particularly the two centre-halves, will have to be on their toes.
“But Barcelona as a whole are a great attacking team, they score plenty of goals. Whoever plays in that defence will have to play as a unit and make sure that we don’t concede too many chances.”
Blow for Manchester United against Barcelona
Irwin’s comments come with the blow that United defender Lisandro Martinez will miss the Europa League first-leg tie due to suspension. The Argentine picked up three yellow cards during the group stages of the competition and must serve a one-match ban as a result.
Martinez has been a crucial player for United this season – making 21 appearances in the Premier League. Alongside Raphael Varane, we have our first formidable centre-back pairing in a very long time.
As per UEFA rules, bookings carry over from other European competitions. This means Barcelona starlet Gavi will be walking a suspension tightrope at Camp Nou this season. All he needs is one yellow card and the impressive 18-year-old will miss the second leg.
This also means United loanee Marcel Sabitzer is ruled out for the first-leg.
