Sunday's 3-0 win against Leicester City in the Premier League has created a good mood and atmosphere around Old Trafford ahead of Barcelona's visit to the Theater of Dreams on Thursday night.
Manchester United will host the Catalans for the reverse leg of the fixture after playing a 2-2 stalemate last Thursday night at the Spotify Nou Camp stadium.
Erik Ten Hag, Manchester United's manager, was spotted applauding the fans in appreciation at full volume while he was headed towards the tunnel. The 52-year-old started making gestures and uttering words to a section of the Old Trafford crowd before he disappeared into the team's tunnel; all these were clearly caught by a camera at the stadium, and critics are curious to find out what the former Ajax manager was saying.
Erik Ten Hag revealed what he was saying during his press conference later after the game, and it was mind-blowing. When asked about what he was saying while he was headed for the team's tunnel, the Red Devils boss replied, "I said: "Come Thursday, it is a big game." Make sure you are there, and we are sure we can beat Barcelona together."
“I thank the fans when they have that trust in me. I feel committed to this club, and I love being here. I will give everything I have to perform as well as possible. "To bring them hopefully across limits," he added.
Manchester United started the game on the wrong foot as they allowed Brendan Rodgers' side to dominate the game for the first 20 minutes. However, a period of brilliance between Marcel Sabitzer, Bruno Fernandes, and a clinical Marcus Rashford put them in the lead in the 25th minute.
They ended the first half struggling but settled down, and we were the better side in the second half.
Marcus Rashford was set up by Fred to double Manchester United's lead, initially signaled as offside by the linesman before VAR authorized the goal. Minutes later, substitute Jadon Sancho played a swift one-two pass with Bruno Fernandes before putting the ball beyond Leicester City's goalkeeper to seal an emphatic win for Erik Ten Hag's side.
The gaffer couldn't hide his delight when asked if he was enjoying his players' playing style, then went further to stress that he aims to utilize it against Thursday's opponent, Barcelona.
“I hope they are. I hope they enjoy it; I enjoy it. I enjoyed it because you could see the product. The end product is what the outcome is. And you have to invest. You must suffer and sacrifice in some situations because a lot of the time it is hard to get in the right positions, especially against a good team like Leicester and even more against Barcelona.
“Because they have even more brilliant players." "But you can see what the end product is when you do it right, because counter pressing is the best way to take chances.”
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