David De Gea has made a strong demand to his Man Utd teammates after a disappointing show at Old Trafford against West Ham.
The Manchester United goalkeeper made a fine save to deny West Ham from scoring their second of the night as the side registered a 2-1 victory in the game.
Paul Pogba scored both the goals through penalty-kicks for United. Felipe Anderson scored the sole goal for West Ham in the early stages of the first half, even when De Gea could’ve done better to save the shot.
The side will now take on Barcelona in the Champions League quarterfinal’s second leg at Camp Nou on Tuesday night, and the Spanish goalkeeper sent a strong message to his teammates.
Solskjaer and Pogba, both criticised Manchester United’s performance in the game, and De Gea joined the duo in asking the players to step up for the Champions League night.
De Gea sends message to Man Utd teammates:
In the post-match interview, De Gea acknowledged that the schedule did have a toll on their fitness but insisted that the side needs to step up against Barcelona next week.
“Of course it’s difficult, but if you want to be a top team you have to play big Champions League games, and the weekend after it’s the Premier League,” De Gea said.
“So you have to be focused and ready for a difficult game again. I think today we didn’t play well, we have to improve a lot and now we have a big challenge on Tuesday.”
While the Spaniard insisted that securing three points is a huge boost at this stage of the season, Manchester United cannot get complacent at Camp Nou.
“We will try to fight and win the game. We can go with more confidence after the three points.
“It’s a big challenge, a special occasion, in Spain, against Barcelona, a Champions League night, so it’s going to be an amazing game.
“We’re happy with the win, but at the same time we have to improve a lot.”
How Twitter reacted..
What next?
Manchester United will return to action on Tuesday night against Barcelona (12:30 AM IST on Wednesday morning).
