By Anadolu Agency
February 17, 2023 5:32 amANKARA
Brazilian winger Raphinha scored the equalizer for hosts Barcelona, who salvaged a 2-2 draw against Manchester United in a UEFA Europa League playoff first leg match Thursday.
In the 50th minute, Barcelona defender Marcos Alonso scored a header to give a 1-0 lead to his team at Spotify Camp Nou Stadium in Barcelona.
Man Utd came back from a 1-0 deficit. English star Marcus Rashford leveled from a narrow angle in the 53rd minute, and six minutes later, Barcelona’s Jules Kounde scored an own goal.
Raphinha whipped a cross in the 76th minute that luckily found the back of Manchester United’s net, making the result 2-2.
Barcelona midfielder Gavi was booked to be suspended for the second leg in Manchester. Another Barca midfielder, Pedri, went off for an injury.
One of the regulars at Barcelona, Pedri suffered a hamstring injury to undergo tests, the Spanish club confirmed after the match.
He joined injured key players Sergio Busquets and Ousmane Dembele.
Barcelona will visit Manchester United at Old Trafford on Feb. 23.
The winning team of this tie will be in the last 16.
Quake victims honored before kickoff
Separately, before the match, a minute’s silence was observed at Spotify Camp Nou to commemorate the earthquake victims in Türkiye and Syria.
More than 38,000 people have died in the twin quakes that jolted southern Türkiye last week, the country’s disaster agency said.
The Feb. 6 magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 earthquakes, centered in Kahramanmaras province, affected more than 13 million people across 11 provinces, including Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, Sanliurfa and Elazig.
Several countries in the region, including Syria and Lebanon, also felt the strong tremors that struck Türkiye in the space of less than 10 hours.
Thursday’s results:
Barcelona – Manchester United: 2-2
Shakhtar Donetsk – Rennes: 2-1
Ajax – Union Berlin: 0-0
Salzburg – Roma: 1-0
Juventus – Nantes: 1-1
Sporting – Midtjylland: 1-1
Bayer Leverkusen – Monaco: 2-3
Sevilla – PSV Eindhoven: 3-0
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