Barcelona ‘will play centre back Ronald Araujo as a makeshift right back to contain Marcus Rashford’

Barcelona will play Ronald Araujo as a makeshift right-back to contain Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford.

The red devils will visit the Camp Nou on Thursday for the first leg of the Europa League, with the return at Old Trafford seven days later.

Xavi Hernández has used the same tactical plan in recent El Clásico matches to effectively subdue Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr..

The 23-year-old Uruguayan, who usually starts out as a centre-back at the LaLiga club, is expected to be similarly positioned, according to AS Diary.

Rashford has scored eight goals in nine league appearances for United and propelled Erik ten Hag’s side to third place, five points behind leaders Arsenal and two behind local rivals Manchester City.

United paid the price of not finishing first in the group ahead of Real Sociedad.

The match will evoke memories of some of the great nights of European football.

Barcelona beat United in the 2009 and 2011 Champions League finals when Pep Guardiola edged past Sir Alex Ferguson.

Bryan Robson led a memorable comeback against the Catalans and Diego Maradona in the 1984 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup quarter-final as United won 3-2 on aggregate at Old Trafford.

Ferguson lifted the same trophy in 1991 after Mark Hughes’ two goals in the Rotterdam final secured a 2-1 victory.

A United crippled by the three-foreigner rule suffered a humiliating 4-0 defeat at Barcelona in 1994, failing to qualify for the Champions League group stage.

And on the road to United lifting the European Cup in 1999, there were two 3-3 group stage draws before beating Bayern Munich in the final at the Camp Nou.

When Ferguson won the Champions League again in 2008, Paul Scholes scored the only goal in the semi-final to knock out Barcelona in what was United’s last victory over their rivals.

The most recent encounter ended in a 4-0 aggregate defeat for United in the 2019 Champions League quarter-final.