Manchester United must protect Paul Pogba vs. Barcelona

Manchester United must protect Paul Pogba in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinal against Barcelona.

Paul Pogba needs the freedom of the Old Trafford pitch if Manchester United are going to have a chance against Barcelona in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinal.

United must protect Pogba against the Blaugrana. Specifically, the Red Devils must shield their most important player from the type of oppressive man-marking he experienced against Paris Saint-Germain.

Pogba was rendered ineffective and ultimately red carded thanks to Marquinhos’ smothering attention. It meant United were beaten 2-0 at home in the first leg of the last 16 by the Ligue 1 giants.

Although the Reds produced a miracle comeback in the French capital, they can’t count on defying the odds, not to mention logic, again.

It will mean making the game flow through Pogba. The Frenchman has rediscovered his creative verve and scoring touch since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took over as manager back in December.

The message from those numbers is clear. When Pogba plays well, United win. When he’s off his game, the Red Devils lose.

It means the playmaker needs to be indulged. Solskjaer’s predecessor, Jose Mourinho, had little time for making concessions for United’s record signing.

The flip-side of Solskjaer getting the best out of Pogba is the target it’s put on the No. 6’s back. Opposing teams know they can keep him quiet provided they sacrifice a midfielder or two to do it.

PSG boss Thomas Tuchel made such an allowance when he moved centre-back Marquinhos into midfield. The Brazil international was tasked with staying close to Pogba and denying him time and space.

Marquinhos’ muscle, quickness and aggression made him the perfect minder. Pogba’s stale showing in Manchester back in February soon had other teams rushing to copy PSG’s blueprint.

Wolves used Joao Moutinho in a similar role during 2-1 wins in both the Premier League and FA Cup.

Moutinho’s success blanketing Pogba won’t have been lost on Barca chief Ernesto Valverde. He has several options at his disposal to help put operation stop Pogba into action.

Sergio Busquets could be the 26-year-old’s shadow. Busquets is still near-flawless as a holding midfielder, combining brawn with technique and positional discipline.

Yet Valverde may not want Busquets to be dragged away from screening the Barca defense because he’s trailing Pogba.

A workhorse like Arturo Vidal may be the better choice. He’s a former teammate of Pogba’s when the two played for Juventus, so he’s familiar with the runs the World Cup winner loves to make.

Keeping Pogba clear of extra attention poses a dilemma for Solskjaer. He could do it by removing Pogba from the tip of midfield and into a deeper role.

It’s a possibility Solskjaer recently discussed when assessing how Pogba plays for France, per Adam Marshall of United’s official website:

"But Paul has been away and he’s played two games for France. Of course, he’s playing a bit deeper for them and that might be something we have to think about to get him more involved in the game, make him dictate games more for us.That’s from game to game. As you can see, Paul can do both. He can attack and defend."

Moving Pogba back has some advantages. He’d have freedom to launch long passes from deep, one of the strengths of his game, allowing United to bypass Barca’s midfield press.

The Red Devils will have to go long and direct if they are going to catch a side that are likely to dominate possession. Soaking up pressure and striking on the counter has been United’s hallmark during Solskjaer’s brief but generally successful reign.

He’s likely to trust a similar plan to get numbers deep and hope to contain Barca’s star forwards Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez.

Barca’s counter to Pogba as a deep-lying conductor should be to deploy the industrious and forward-thinking Ivan Rakitic to defend from the front. Pushing Rakitic onto Pogba would create the same kind of problems PSG caused.

United’s best bet to deter man-marking on Pogba would be to start Jesse Lingard and Juan Mata. Lingard started the first leg against Les Parisiens but was withdrawn through injury in first-half stoppage time.

A fully fit Lingard will be key against Barcelona because he likes to drift centrally from wide areas. The England international does his best work in the pockets of space between the midfield and forward lines.

Those areas will be vacated if Busquets is busy tracking Pogba.

Mata’s presence will give United another pass-master who can ease the team’s reliance on Pogba to boss possession. Like Lingard, Mata also enjoys ghosting into spaces between the flanks and central areas.

United creating a congested middle in the final third will prevent Barca from zeroing in on Pogba, the one player capable of inspiring another Solskjaer-led upset in Europe, provided he has time and space.