Chris Smalling tackle : Lionel Messi left blood faced by Smalling challenge

Manchester United are taking on Barcelona in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinal at Old Trafford.

Manchester United host the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinal against Barcelona. The side is aiming to return to winning ways after a significantly struggling in the last few games.

Barcelona are upbeat after almost securing a second consecutive La Liga title after beating Atletico Madrid in the weekend fixture last week.

And Barcelona continued on their impressive form against Manchester United, as the side scored merely 12 minutes from kick-off.

Lionel Messi assisted with a perfect pass for Luis Suarez, who timed his run to perfection as well. Phil Coutinho also made a run, but Suarez’s accurate header beat the United defenders and goalkeeper David De Gea.

However, things turned ugly as the game proceeded as Smalling’s rough challenge on Messi left the Barca captain with a bloodied nose.

Smalling’s challenge on Messi:

Chris Smalling made an ugly challenge on Lionel Messi and the Argentine forward almost immediately went down.

As he sat, blood fell from his nose as the game was stopped. The Barcelona staff tended to Lionel Messi later and the captain was ready to play within a minute.

Here’s the full video:

Barcelona would aim to finish this game in the first leg after Manchester United made a stunning comeback against PSG in the second leg in the round-of-16 tie. United, on the other hand, faces an uphill task to secure Champions League qualification in the Premier League, and will attempt to derail Barcelona’s European campaign.

By the time of the publishing of this article, Barcelona were leading 1-0, with Luke Shaw’s own goal making the sole difference between the two sides.