On Wednesday night, Manchester United faced the daunting prospect of Barcelona in the Champions League quarter-finals.
The champions of Spain are one of the favourites the lift the trophy at the end of the season, and they're also currently top of their domestic league by 11 points.
After 90 minutes, although United's performance wasn't particularly prosperous, the result sustained offers a degree of hope ahead of the second leg.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's team failed to have a single shot on target during the contest, but the narrow 1-0 defeat means that the tie is far from over, especially considering how United progressed from first leg defeat in the last round.
So, based on the recent 1-0 defeat, what did United do well, and what can be learnt ahead of the next meeting? Let's take a look.
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The positives
Firstly, before the two sides locked horns at Old Trafford, the biggest and most publicised threat was undeniably set to be Lionel Messi.
However, the legendary talisman barely influenced proceedings in an attacking sense, with just one shot attempted over the course of the 90 minute period. Messi's shots average per 90 for the season is a whopping 5.4, so for him to hit so on Wednesday was strange, and although he completed five dribbles, his average for the season is almost 11.
Evidently, despite the overall performance of the team generally lacking, it appears as though defensively, the approach employed by Solskjaer seemed to work for the most part. Barcelona attempted almost double the amount of passes that United did, but Erneste Valverde's team amassed just 5 shots, with their usual average based on this season being 15.
The positives that United can take from the match are certainly relative to the team's defensive aspects, as despite having the large majority of possession, Barcelona ultimately failed to pose much of a serious threat. This was largely due to the defensive strategy imposed by United and crucially, their defensive line.
For all the quality that the likes of Messi, Luis Suarez and Phillipe Coutinho possess, it's reasonable to suggest that they lack in outright speed.
None of those elite level talents are particularly inclined to run in behind with quick accelerations, and as a result, United were able to adopt a fairly high and aggressive defensive line, pictured below.
That high defensive line then allowed the team to be incredibly compact from back to front, meaning that from a Barcelona perspective, there was little space available to play through, shown below.
The pace was injected by Nelson Semedo and Jordi Alba from the full-back areas, but they were not always advanced enough to showcase that.
Ultimately, this compact, brave defensive approach permitted Barcelona from slicing through United, and it's reasonable to suggest that it also detrimentally impacted Messi's game too.
It's likely that Alba and Semedo remained relatively cautious to manage the counter-attacking threat held by United, so as long as Solskjaer keeps that dynamic, then Barcelona may find it difficult once more.
The negatives
Although the defensive side of the game was relatively productive on United's part, their offensive play was the overriding problem. Once securing the ball, United seemed to panic and play recklessly to force attacks that weren't realistic.
This likely stems from the overall counter-attacking approach that was applied to face Barcelona, but that didn't have to necessarily mean that every possession had to result in a fast attack.
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Too often, United tried to slice through Barcelona when the opportunity wasn't there to do so, with possession simply becoming too forced. The home side's Expected Goals (xG) value on the night was 0.32, which is very low, but it's somewhat strange considering the team took 10 shots.
xG provides an insight into the likelihood of a shot resulting in a goal based on aspects such as difficulty and closeness to goal. A penalty for example, is regularly valued as 0.76 xG, with a shot from 40 yards effectively being valued as 0.01 xG.
United's total of 0.32 xG having taken 10 shots, means that each shot the team took was worth about 0.03 xG, which is very low quality, and for clarity, an example of a typical 0.03 xG shot is pictured below versus Wolves.
Going into the second leg, United simply have to use the ball better.
If the opportunity is there to counter-attack, then execute a move immediately, but if there's no such moment, then recirculate sensibly. An example is pictured below, in which possession was forced rather than controlled by Romelu Lukaku, which would have perhaps been the better decision at the time.
In the graphic, Lukaku is about to control the ball after being fed by Luke Shaw. Barcelona have every player in a defensive position, so it's highly unlikely that United will benefit from a direct play at this point.
Despite that, though, Lukaku turned on the ball without assessing the penalty box, and aimlessly hit a cross into an unattended area, shown below.
Plenty of other players on the night, including the likes of Marcus Rashford and Ashley Young, behaved impulsively in possession, and if United are to sustain any type of victory in Spain, those actions will have to become shrewder.
Ultimately, United's counter-attacking approach can certainly thrive against this opponent.
But those direct moments have to be selected and executed with more thought, rather than careless attempts at progressing up the field quickly, in order for Solskjaer to engineer another miracle in Camp Nou.
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