At half-time of the second leg of Manchester United’s Europa League tie with Barcelona, the early optimism of the home crowd had dissipated, leaving behind a sense that maybe La Liga’s leaders were a step ahead after all. Barcelona are, of course, eight points ahead of Real Madrid domestically. The same Real Madrid who destroyed Liverpool at Anfield on Wednesday.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka was, at that stage, United’s most involved player. He had taken 36 touches, more than Marcus Rashford (17) and Luke Shaw (17) combined. Wan-Bissaka was putting in a capable display but something is malfunctioning if he is on the ball to that degree at the expense of United’s potent creative forces.
So Erik ten Hag did what he has done frequently this season. He acted without hesitation.
Off came Wout Weghorst, who was running gamely but struggling to exert any influence, and on went Antony on the right. Rashford shifted from left wing to centre-forward, Jadon Sancho moved from No 10 to left wing, and Bruno Fernandes shuffled from the right wing to No 10.
Less than two minutes into the second half, the changes worked. Sancho, who had been too leisurely for a central role, threaded a ball inside from his new position on the left — the type he did on repeat for Borussia Dortmund — and Fernandes, now in the middle, fired a pass that Fred controlled to finish into the bottom corner.
Ten Hag’s touch continued when Antony stroked in the winner as the ball broke loose following a move that involved Alejandro Garnacho, six minutes after the teenager had come on.
By the final whistle, United were celebrating a memorable night — it was only their third win over Barcelona at Old Trafford (after victories in 1984 and 2008, as well as a win in Rotterdam in the 1991 Cup Winners’ Cup final), and one made more special by the fact they had to achieve victory from behind.
Antony sweeps home Manchester United’s winning goal against Barcelona, sealing a 4-3 triumph on aggregate (Photo: Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)
United are now unbeaten in 18 successive games at Old Trafford, with 16 of those wins, and the synergy between fans and players was pronounced. Lisandro Martinez led the rallying calls, joined by Casemiro and then Raphael Varane, who went over to conduct a series of “oles” with the crowd in the north-east corner, which has become his trademark. Casemiro and Varane have won five and four Champions League titles each, but they looked seriously pumped at progressing through this Europe League play-off tie (even if there was the Clasico factor, with the pair ex-Real players).
Those scenes would not have happened without Ten Hag’s decisiveness. He does not wait around if he sees problems in his team — and his rate of success is becoming freakish. Antony’s goal was the 19th time a substitute had scored for Ten Hag, a higher number than any team across Europe’s biggest leagues.
But more than that, he senses the flow of games and makes calls quickly.
At half-time of the Liverpool game in August, he replaced Anthony Elanga with Anthony Martial and Rashford scored eight minutes later.
At half-time away to Omonia Nicosia in October, with his side 1-0 down, Ten Hag put on Shaw and Rashford for Malacia and Sancho. Rashford scored after 53 minutes. Ten Hag sent on Martial after 61 minutes and he got a goal two minutes later.
Rashford replaced Garnacho at half-time of the match against Wolves at Molineux on New Year’s Eve and he scored on 76 minutes. In that month’s Manchester derby, Martial came off for Antony at half-time. Garnacho then went on at 72 minutes with Manchester City leading 1-0, and 10 minutes later, United were 2-1 up.
Against Leicester more recently, Garnacho was the one to come off at half-time, replaced by Sancho. Rashford scored on 56 minutes and Sancho scored on 61 minutes.
Steve McClaren, Ten Hag’s boss at Twente and now assistant at United, reflected on this ability to The Athletic last April. “He could see things in the game that nobody else could see, myself included,” McClaren said. “I have to sit up in the stands to see the patterns of a game, but he could stand on the touchline (and see them). He always knew the answer to everything, how to change shape, change positions.
“His adjustments in the games — obviously I had worked with Sir Alex (Ferguson, at United), and I used to think that some of his subs and changes were strange, but they always worked. Erik is the same in that respect.”
In the aftermath of his latest steering from the sidelines, Ten Hag explained how he demands his players are primed to make an impact from the bench. He said: “It is starting with the idea football is 11-vs-11. In the squad, you need different types and profiles, and when your time is there, you have to be ready; you come on and contribute to the team. You can’t win trophies with 11, especially not nowadays. You need that squad and rotation, to bring tactics and dynamics to games.”
You might argue that such a record suggests he has not always got it right from the start. The line-up against Barcelona felt that way. Fernandes got one-on-one early on because left-back Alejandro Balde had pushed on, and Casemiro passed quickly. But for the rest of the half, Balde pinned back Fernandes, limiting the United captain’s attacking threat. He was much more effective in his customary No 10 role.
There is, though, a benefit to swapping players out of position occasionally. It keeps the opposition guessing, which is particularly relevant when the team and manager are as sophisticated as Barcelona and Xavi.
In the first leg, Ten Hag sprung a surprise by starting Rashford up top and Weghorst at No 10. Xavi had predicted Rashford would be on the left, so picked centre-back Ronald Araujo, who has great speed, out of position to nullify him.
Before the second leg, Xavi spoke about Barcelona needing a high line to compress United and squeeze Rashford, anticipating he would again start at centre-forward. But Rashford began on the left. Araujo, playing in his usual position in central defence, did a good job on Rashford when he switched to play as a striker for the second half.
That kind of subtlety from Ten Hag extends to player fitness. United made sure no training pictures of Antony emerged in the days before Wednesday’s open session, so that Barcelona had less time to prepare for the possibility of the Brazilian featuring.
The plans worked and it was the kind of win where players want to savour the afterglow. Fernandes brought his children out to play on the pitch once the stands had emptied. One of them ran the length of the field to put the ball in an empty net, generating cheers from the smattering of people still in the stadium.
David de Gea had a walk too, alongside chief executive Richard Arnold. De Gea’s passing out from the defensive third of the pitch still leaves something to be desired but he pulled off another brilliant save to keep out Jules Kounde’s header and United hope for a positive conclusion to contract negotiations with the 32-year-old.
Ten Hag said he felt beating Barcelona would generate more belief in his methods. Continuing to make positive substitutions at his current hit rate will do the same.