MANCHESTER, England -- Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has insisted Paul Pogba will still be a Manchester United player next season and urged the midfielder to show his worth against Barcelona.
Pogba, who has again been linked with a move to Real Madrid on the eve of the Champions League quarterfinal first leg at Old Trafford, was sent off against Paris Saint-Germain in February and missed the dramatic comeback in Paris.
"Paul is looking forward to it, he's a Manchester United player, one of our big performers on the big stage," Solskjaer said.
"His game against PSG was not his greatest moment. He's only focused on playing and I cannot not see him playing for Man United next season.
"Paul at his best can run a game like this and you expect him to put his stamp on it."
The turnaround in Paris in the last round was built on an impressive display from Chris Smalling, who kept Kylian Mbappe quiet during the 3-1 win.
It will be Smalling's job to look after Lionel Messi when Barcelona, who have never won at Old Trafford in four attempts, visit on Wednesday night and the centre-back was in defiant mood at the prematch news conference.
"It's something to relish," Smalling said. "This season I've been lucky enough to face [Cristiano] Ronaldo and Mbappe. They're all challenges I relish and the players relish. I say 'bring it on.'"
Solskjaer says there is "hope" Nemanja Matic will be fit to play despite missing training at Carrington on Tuesday morning while Marcus Rashford's ankle injury will be assessed on Wednesday morning after he was unable to take part in the full session.
Ander Herrera is expected to miss out after picking up an injury in training on Sunday and Alexis Sanchez will be held back for the Premier League clash against West Ham on Saturday despite returning to training after a hamstring problem.
The injury problems in midfield could mean Scott McTominay gets a chance to line up against Sergio Busquets and Ivan Rakitic and 18-year-old midfielder James Garner has also been drafted into the squad.
Solskjaer has warned his team to be aware of "tricks" employed by Barca while also hoping for "some luck" with Italian referee Gianluca Rocchi.
"We've learnt from that PSG game," Solskjaer said. "Players have talked about it -- how we got dragged into making fouls.
"You have got to be more patient in tackles, some of these players will have some tricks up their sleeves, some wise players.
"We weren't lucky with the ref against PSG where they should have had a man sent off so we hope for some luck there as well."