Barcelona to employ key tactic to stop Marcus Rashford, it worked on Real Madrid's Vinicius Jr

Barcelona have a system in place to help limit Manchester United's Marcus Rashford in the pair's mouth-watering Europa League clash on Thursday.

The Red Devils travel to the Camp Nou to face the Spanish giants for the first leg of their European last 16 tie.

It is a fixture steeped in history, set against the backdrop of an iconic stadium where Sir Alex Ferguson led Manchester United to Champions League glory in 1999.

Meanwhile, Barcelona got the better of United in the Champions League finals of 2009 and 2011 when Pep Guardiola's 'tiki taka' reigned supreme.

Fast forward 24 years and the Catalan club failed to make it out of their Champions League group. However, they are flying in La Liga, opening up an unassailable 11-point advantage over second-placed Real Madrid.

And Xavi is thought to have a tactical trick up his sleeve to help keep Manchester United quiet.

Barcelona's key tactic to stop Rashford

Barcelona are set to deploy Ronald Araujo as a makeshift right back to help limit Manchester United's Marcus Rashford, claim the Daily Mail.

The Uruguayan is expected to swap with Joules Kounde to counter the Englishman's explosive speed.

Xavi used the same system during El Classico to help contain Vinicius Jr, which worked effectively as Barcelona came away 3-1 winners.

Rashford has so often been the man Erik ten Hag has turned to this season, scoring 12 goals since the World Cup finished.

But unfortunately for United fans, that's not the only tactic Xavi has implemented into the Blaugrana.

Villarreal boss Quique Setien, who managed Barcelona in 2020, claims they have a new deadly trait.

“There is something that this Barcelona team has changed a lot, which is without the ball,” he said, as per Mundo Deportivo.

“The data is there, Barcelona are the team that runs the most without the ball.

“Seems surprising, doesn't it?”

Topics: Barcelona, Manchester United, Marcus Rashford, Xavi, Erik Ten Hag, Europa League, La Liga, Football, Jules Kounde

Joe Adams

Joe is a Journalist for SPORTbible with a primary focus on football. He has previously covered a number of other sports including boxing, rugby and F1. Wishes he was born left-footed.

@joeadamsjourno