Jules Kounde comments on prospect of facing Marcus Rashford at Old Trafford

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Manchester United’s Europa League first leg against Barcelona was an up and down night for fans and players, ending in an even 2-2 draw.

For Jules Kounde there was no ‘up’. It was all ‘down’ with the defender put in a spin by Manchester United’s swiftly executed forward play.

Kounde scored an own goal after Bruno Fernandes’ effort deflected in off him, and was pulled out of position for Marcus Rashford’s opener.

The worst moment came when he hauled down Rashford through on goal at 2-1 down, and escaped without being sent off.

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Kounde now has to face Rashford again

Jules Kounde was rated statistically as Barcelona’s worst player on the night, just a 6.1 score via FotMob, while WhoScored gave him a 5.9 rating.

Goal‘s player ratings awarded him just 4/10 and Barca Universal 5.5/10. Mundo Deportivo wrote that it would be hard not to improve on his performance.

Now he faces another tough task, possibly an impossible one, to stop an in-form Marcus Rashford at Old Trafford.

Kounde spoke in the pre-match press conference and admitted it must be a collective effort to stop the Manchester United striker.

He said: “He’s very fast and he’s very difficult to stop. We must defend him collectively.”

Asked about the incident which saw Erik ten Hag criticise the referee after the game for not taking stronger action, he said: “It was a 50-50 play.”

Rashford was a tour de force at the Nou Camp, earning standout praise from the Spanish media for his performance.

He has 24 goals and eight assists this season to date, and he has been even more dangerous at Old Trafford.

Jules Kounde’s Sevilla once got the better of Rashford’s United in 2020 in the Europa League semi-final. So the Frenchman knows it can be done.

The 2023 version of Rashford even more dangerous, surpassing that season’s tally with three months remaining. Kounde needs no reminding of how difficult he is to play against.