It all started so brightly, with Manchester United carving out several good scoring chances in the opening minutes of Tuesday’s second leg. Trailing 1-0 on aggregate, the Reds needed a more clinical touch in front of goal. Instead, Lionel Messi took over and ended United’s Champions League run with a first-half brace. Now, United must claw their way back into the Premier League’s top four just to get another crack at this competition next season. David De Gea: 4 Huge mistake on Messi’s second goal, which effectively killed off the tie. De Gea rallied to keep out Sergi Roberto’s shot just before halftime — but that was too little, too late. Phil Jones : 5 Messi had him on skates all night long. That happens to lots of defenders, though. Early on, Jones headed away a dangerous cross just in front of Luis Suarez at the back post. Victor Lindelöf: 5 Tough assignment at right back. Lindelöf had his hands full with Coutinho and Jordi Alba, which limited his opportunities to push forward. Decent performance overall. Chris Smalling : 5 Allowed too much space to Messi and Coutinho on their goals. Solid enough at the back. Ashley Young : 2 Brutal night for the United captain. Young turned the ball over to Messi in the lead-up to the opening goal. And it didn’t get much better from there. His crosses and corners continue to be a liability. Fred: 5 VAR correctly saved him from conceding a penalty early in the first half. Slow of foot and mind on Messi’s opener. Struggled to stamp his authority on the game. Scott McTominay: 5 A poor touch in the box wasted an early scoring chance. McTominay worked hard, but made little impact. Paul Pogba : 5 Strong start, but tapered off quickly. Pogba grew noticeably frustrated as the game slipped away, drawing Lingard’s ire after a low-percentage shot from long range. On the biggest stage, he did little to impress. Anthony Martial: 4 Still some way off his best. All the talent in the world, but his development seems to have stalled. Solskjaer pulled him after the third goal. Jesse Lingard: 5 Pressed well early on, but didn’t offer enough going forward. Marcus Rashford: 6 Clipped the crossbar inside the first minute. Rashford’s speed and movement always makes him a threat, but he can’t afford to waste good chances like that against Barcelona. Taken off early, probably with one eye on Everton this weekend. Diogo Dalot (Sub, 65’): 6 Nearly an assist in the closing moments. Romelu Lukaku (Sub, 73’): 5 No impact. Alexis Sánchez (Sub, 80’): 5 Close to a goal on his Camp Nou return.<doc-sep>Manchester United 4-3-3 David de Gea Helpless for Barça’s opener and later made an impressive save from a Coutinho piledriver. 7 Ashley Young Chopped down Coutinho and wasted one break by overhitting a pass to Rashford. 6 ▶ Chris Smalling Often found himself marking Luis Suárez who is always a nightmare to corral. A physical presence. 7 Victor Lindelöf Coutinho bought one easy foul off him but he was willing to launch attacks by stepping forward. 6 Luke Shaw Struggled when Messi ran at him. Suárez’s header went in off him when he might have done better. 6 Fred One awful free-kick at the Barça wall but improved after the break, with one fine ball to Rashford. 6 Scott McTominay Was one of United’s better performers, showing energy, initiative and good distribution. 7 Paul Pogba Split the visitors open with a pass into Rashford and carried a positive intent with the ball. 7 Diogo Dalot Was better when racing forward than when Barça came at him. Missed a chance but is maturing. 6 Romelu Lukaku Surprise selection ahead of Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial – but often wasted possession. 4 Marcus Rashford Was brighter than his strike partner, but missed a golden chance in the second half. 7 Subs Anthony Martial (for Lukaku 68) 7; Andreas Pereira (for Rashford 85) 6; Jesse Lingard (for Dalot 74) 6 01:09 Solskjær: PSG result gives Manchester United hope after home loss to Barça – video Barcelona 4-3-3 Marc-André ter Stegen Did not have a save to make in the first half despite sustained United pressure. Distribution could be faulty 6 Nélson Semedo Harried by Rashford and Dalot when Solskjær’s men squeezed around the Barcelona area. 6 Gerard Piqué Visiting his former club, was shaky under the high ball but kept pace with Rashford when needed. 6 Clément Lenglet Centre-back was hardly the surest of presences when defending against the busy Rashford. 7 Jordi Alba More than once was guilty of dismal play-acting that did not fool Young or McTominay. 4 Ivan Rakitic Had a quiet opening half though one smooth acceleration into United’s territory showed his class. 6 Sergio Busquets Dropped McTominay for early free-kick, booked for pulling back Pogba. Niggling fouls continued. 4 Arthur Melo Brazilian had McTominay for company as part of a midfield which Messi joined at times. 6 ▶ Lionel Messi Dropped deep on occasion and had eyes in back of his head to find Suárez for the decisive goal. 8 Luis Suárez Floated across the front line and enjoyed his header – via Shaw – for winner, gesturing to the Stretford End. 7 Philippe Coutinho Apart from a first-half shot that drew a sharp De Gea save, he was anonymous before being replaced. 5 Subs Aleix Vidal (Coutinho 66) 5; Sergi Roberto (Arthur 66) 6; Carles Aleñá (Busquets 90) n/a<doc-sep>BARCELONA, Spain -- Manchester United were dumped out of the Champions League by Barcelona after a David De Gea howler contributed to a 3-0 defeat at Camp Nou. Lionel Messi scored twice -- the second after De Gea let a tame shot trickle into the net -- before Philippe Coutinho bagged a third to send the Spanish giants in the semifinals 4-0 on aggregate. It might have been different had Marcus Rashford converted a good chance after 24 seconds instead of hitting the bar, but after Messi scored twice in the space of four minutes midway through the first half, the tie was all but over. It stretches United's wait for a Champions League semifinal to eight years as their attention switches to vital games against Everton, Manchester City and Chelsea as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's team look to book a place in the next season's competition. Positives United had their chances. Rashford hit the crossbar inside the first minute and moments later Scott McTominay was played in but let the opportunity slip away. The stunning round-of-16 win in Paris was made possible by an early goal, and United should have had one here. In the end, Barcelona survived and ended the tie with two goals in the opening 20 minutes. Negatives De Gea made a horrible error to continue a patchy run of form. His distribution contributed to goals in the league defeat at Wolves and against West Ham on Saturday, although he atoned for that mistake with a wonderful save with the score at 1-1. Solskjaer has dismissed suggestions that ongoing contract talks are affecting his concentration, but it is a worry that so many mistakes are creeping in. Manager rating out of 10 6 -- Solskjaer picked Victor Lindelof at right-back and chose Fred in midfield despite Nemanja Matic's return to the squad. In the buildup he said he wanted a good start and he got one, but the early goal that would have sent panic through Camp Nou never came. The result means United are heading into crucial league fixtures against Everton, Manchester City and Chelsea on the back of five defeats in their past seven games. David De Gea's howler effectively ended Manchester United's Champions League hopes. Getty Player ratings (1-10; 10 = best. Players introduced after 70 minutes get no rating) GK David De Gea, 4 -- The Spaniard made an awful mistake to let Messi's shot slide under his body and concede the goal that effectively ended the tie. Did well to keep out Sergi Roberto on the stoke of half-time. DF Victor Lindelof, 5 -- Asked to fill in at right-back. Didn't get forward but had kept Coutinho relatively quiet until the Brazilian's brilliant goal. DF Ashley Young, 5 -- Started at left-back in the absence of Luke Shaw. Gave the ball away in the buildup to Messi's first goal and United never recovered. DF Phil Jones, 5 -- Good header to deny Luis Suarez an easy chanceeasy at the back post. Given a rough night by Messi, who decided to turn it on after a quiet game in the first leg. DF Chris Smalling, 5 -- Made a couple of well-timed interceptions but should have got out more quickly to stop Coutinho curling in Barcelona's third from 25 yards. MF Fred, 6 -- Preferred to Matic in midfield. Thought he had conceded a penalty after his challenge on Ivan Rakitic but the decision was overturned by VAR. MF Scott McTominay, 6 -- Presented with a golden chance after just two minutes but mis-controlled Rashford's pass. MF Paul Pogba, 6 -- One of the architects of United's quick start, but after an encouraging 10 minutes, Barcelona's midfield took over. Showed his frustration with an angry kick at Arthur. FW Jesse Lingard, 6 -- Gave Barcelona an early headache with his position in the hole behind Rashford and Anthony Martial. Didn't see enough of the ball after half-time. FW Anthony Martial, 5 -- Looked bright in the first 10 minutes but had drifted out of the game by the time he was replaced by Diogo Dalot after 65 minutes65. FW Marcus Rashford, 5 -- Hit the crossbar after just 24 seconds. It was a big chance that could have changed the direction of the game. Substitutes FW Diogo Dalot, 6 -- Introduced in place of Martial when Solskjaer switched to a back five. FW Romelu Lukaku, N/R -- Replaced Rashford on 73 minutes but couldn't change United's fortunes. FW Alexis Sanchez, N/R -- Received a polite round of applause upon returning to his former club with 11 minutes remaining.<doc-sep>
Barcelona Marc-André ter Stegen 7 For 89 minutes he was an 11th outfield player – but then he made a beautiful save from Alexis. Sergi Roberto 6 Had a comfortable night against Martial, though missed an easy chance just before half-time. Gerard Piqué 7 Presided over the game like an old don, never really needing to get his knees dirty. Clément Lenglet 6 Struggled at times with the movement and pace of Rashford, but also made some good interceptions. Jordi Alba 9 A shuttle train on the left who combined devastatingly with Messi and Coutinho. Ivan Rakitic 7 A white-collar footballer with a blue-collar attitude. Won an early penalty that was overturned by VAR. Sergio Busquets 9 His positioning was so good that at times it felt like he was man-marking both Lingard and Pogba. Arthur 7 Speaks such fluent tiki-taka that he could have grown up at La Masia rather than in Brazil. Lionel Messi 9 Yet more routine genius. Two early goals settled the game, but the champagne moment was his sadistic tormenting of Jones just before half-time. Luis Suárez 6 Selfless performance summed up by the off-the-ball run that distracted Jones and allowed Messi to score his first goal. Philippe Coutinho 8 Scored a brilliant, trademark curler. His movement from the left was a puzzle United never solved. Substitutes: Nélson Semedo (on for Sergi Roberto, 71 min) 6; Arturo Vidal (on for Arthur, 75 min) 6; Ousmane Dembélé (on for Philippe Coutinho, 81 min), 6 01:19 Solskjær admits Manchester United face 'rebuilding job' after Barcelona defeat – video Manchester United David de Gea 5 An almost surreal error gave Messi his second goal and ended the tie. Victor Lindelöf 5 Played in an unusual role at right-back and was overwhelmed by the blue-and-red arrows on Barcelona’s left. Chris Smalling 6 Messi brought it on and was far too good, though Smalling played pretty well in the circumstances. Phil Jones 7 A quietly heroic defensive performance, although all anyone will remember is Messi turning him into a human corkscrew. Ashley Young 5 Frantic and edgy, with and without the ball. His risible error led to Messi’s first goal. Scott McTominay 5 After his influential performance in the first leg, this was an intravenous injection of reality. Fred 5 A microcosm of his United career: busy, did some good things – and made a very costly mistake. Paul Pogba 5 Started well but spent the rest of the game looking on enviously at how the other half live. Jesse Lingard 4 Not so much a false nine as a really false nine. Couldn’t handle Busquets’ street wisdom. Marcus Rashford 7 His movement and attitude were beyond reproach, but his blood ran too warm in the penalty area. Anthony Martial 5 Another game of illusive promise. Was again unfathomably reluctant to take risks and attack his full-back. Substitutes: Diogo Dalot (on for Martial, 65 min) 7; Romelu Lukaku (on for Marcus Rashford, 73 min) 5; Alexis Sánchez (on for Jesse Lingard, 80 min) 6.