Manchester United vs Barcelona is battle between Paul Pogba and Lionel Messi, says Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has backed Paul Pogba and Lionel Messi to light up the Champions League quarter-final between Manchester United and Barcelona.
Though Ibrahimovic played for several of Europes most decorated clubs, including United and Barca, he never managed to get his hands on the Champions League trophy before making a move to MLS outfit LA Galaxy.
United host Barcelona at Old Trafford for the first leg of an intriguing tie on Wednesday night and Ernesto Valverdes side are favourites to progress thorough to the semi-finals.
Ibrahimovic is looking forward to the interesting encounter and is convinced either side is capable of securing a place in the final four of the competition.
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I think it will be a very interesting game. Two big teams, two big clubs playing against each other, Ibrahimovic told Barcelonas official website.
Both teams with great history and it will be exciting to see and fantastic players in each team.
Lets see who will be the strongest on the day.
Ibrahimovic believes two of his former team-mates, Pogba and Messi, are likely to be key players over the course of the two legs.
Obviously, Messi makes the difference in each game he plays, its no secret, he added.
I think for United, you have Pogba making the difference there. It will be more of a battle between Messi and Pogba, even if its a collective sport.
I think in these games its all about the teams, not an individual player, but these are the players that make the difference so it will be interesting.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has stressed that United would be foolish to focus solely on the threat of Messi at Old Trafford.
On facing Messi, Solskjaer said: Hes a fantastic player and he will go down in the history (of football) as one of the best individual players ever.
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