Manchester United defender Chris Smalling has revealed how they cheered when they drew Barcelona in the Champions League quarter-finals.
The Red Devils welcome the Catalan giants to Old Trafford tonight (Wednesday) for a huge clash - but Smalling says they have plenty of excitement.
He has recalled how they extended a warm-up to discover the outcome of the draw after earning a spot in the hat with a dramatic last-16 success over Paris Saint-Germain.
And he insists there was only excitement from within the camp, rather than fear at facing Lionel Messi's Barcelona side tipped as favourites to lift the iconic trophy.
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“We were warming up on the bikes in the gym [when the draw was made],” Smalling told United's official club magazine .
“Normally we do 10 minutes on the bike and then we do some gym activation, but I think we stayed on the bikes for maybe 20 minutes just because we saw the draw was on the TV.
“We were all excited. As soon as it came out, we were all happy. We cheered and then we got on with training. But at least we knew who was in front of us.
“When the draw was made, you think, ‘I want to play against teams like this.’ I was injured or just coming back from being injured for the first game [of the last 16 against PSG], so it was nice to be able to test yourself against the best, and I think PSG are one of the best teams in the world.”
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Smalling faces a huge task as he aims to keep Messi quiet - but he's relishing the challenge of facing the Argentinian magician for the first time in a competitive game.
“I’ve not played against him competitively, personally, but in friendlies and pre-season we have,” he said.
“That’s someone else who I’m looking forward to playing against and hopefully minimising as many chances as possible, because we know what a world-class player he is.
"But it’s not just him; I think they’re a world-class team."
