Man Utd vs Barcelona injury and suspension news - six ruled out, one major doubt, two return

Barcelona’s 20-man squad for Thursday’s Europa League clash with Manchester United featured two notable absentees.

The sides face each other in the second-leg play-off game at Old Trafford, with the winner set to progress to the last-16 of the Europa League. The tie is perfectly poised following last week’s meeting at the Nou Camp, which ended 2-2 thanks to Marcus Rashford’s strike and a Jules Kounde own-goal.

But Barca will be without two starters from that game, with youngsters Gavi and Pedri not involved for Xavi’s side. The latter has picked up a knock which rules him out, while Gavi was shown a third European booking this campaign last week and is therefore ruled out for the return leg.

Meanwhile, Ousmane Dembele remains unavailable with a hamstring injury, but Sergio Busquets was named in the Barcelona squad on Wednesday. The experienced midfielder, who has played against United in two Champions League finals, has been struggling with an ankle issue that has prevented him playing in the last three matches.

As for United, they’ve been boosted by the returns of Harry Maguire and Antony ahead of the second leg. The latter hasn’t played since 4 February due to a minor leg injury, while Maguire sat out the weekend win over Leicester City through injury. But Erik ten Hag confirmed in his pre-match press conference that the pair are available once again, while both were involved in United training on Wednesday. Anthony Martial was also spotted working away from the main group at Carrington but won’t be back in time for the clash with Barcelona.

Christian Eriksen and Donny van de Beek remain long-term absentees, but ex-Real Madrid man Casemiro is an option for Ten Hag after missing Sunday’s game through suspension.

Doubt: Busquets (Barcelona)

Returns: Maguire, Antony (United)

Ruled out: Eriksen, Van de Beek, Martial (United); Pedri, Gavi, Dembele (Barcelona)