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Barcelona boss Valverde admits he fears Manchester United’s ‘spirit’

Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde has admitted that he is fearful of Manchester United’s spirit when the two teams meet at the Nou Camp on Tuesday night.

The Blaugrana go into the second leg ahead 1-0 win thanks to Luke Shaw’s own goal at Old Trafford last Wednesday and the Catalan’s are the overwhelming favourites with the bookmakers to progress to the last four.

However, Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde has said that he is not taking the game against Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side for granted, admitting that he fears Manchester United‘s spirit.

“What I fear the most is the spirit they have. We respect them as a team, and the history they have behind them,” Valverde said in his pre-match press briefing.

“You can feel their spirit on the pitch and I think we will see it tomorrow. If we want to face that we have to show the way we are ourselves.”

While the Spanish league leaders were rarely tested in last weeks first leg, they did come up against a gritty and determined United side, who have already beaten the likes of Juventus and PSG away from home this season, and the Barca boss said that his side must not rest on their laurels.

“I don’t know what Manchester United are going to do but we do have the references of what they’ve been doing in the Champions League this year,” Valverde added.

“In four games away from home, they have won three, and a couple in the last few minutes. So we must be on the ball.

“Every team will try to play their game based on the players they have, and we will try to play our game.”

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