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The Brazilian looked like a possessed man in the second half and played a key role as the Reds knocked Barcelona out of Europe.
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has praised Brazilian midfielder Fred following his impressive performance against Barcelona in the Europa League.
Fred was in superb form as United came from behind to defeat the LaLiga giant 2-1 in the second leg for a 4-3 aggregate in their Europa League playoff on Thursday night.
He scored the decisive equaliser two minutes into the second half at Old Trafford to cancel out Robert Lewandowski’s opener for the visitors.
Fred praised for mosquito job on Frenkie
An excellent second-half performance inspired by Fred saw the Red Devils book a ticket to the Europa League round of 16 in some fashion.
The 29-year-old was at the centre of everything United did on the night and capped it off with a goal to set the Red Devils on their way to victory.
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Another Brazilian, Antony, came off the bench to score the decisive win to help United send Barcelona packing from Europe’s second-tier club competition.
However, it was Fred who received special praise from his manager, Ten Hag, for his impressive outing and especially, for stopping summer target Frenkie de Jong.
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“He had an important role already last week in Barcelona, this week the same,” the Dutchman said in his post-match press conference, per the club website.
“He had first to stop Frenkie de Jong from playing, he had to play as a mosquito around him and go behind him and he did it magnificently.”
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Fred was involved in both legs in the playoff against Barcelona and played a decisive role as United dispatched the LaLiga side to continue their journey in Europe.
“Last week, I think he gave a brilliant assist for Rashy [Marcus Rashford] in Barcelona, and today he scored the goal. A brilliant performance,” Ten Hag added.
Fred joined Manchester United from Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk in 2018 and is close to making his 200th appearance for the Red Devils.
He has been involved in six goals, three goals and three assists, in his last eight matches for the club and has scored in all four competitions he has played this season.
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