I REMEMBER when Barcelona’s front three was Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar, people would ask: How do you stop them?

The answer is, you cannot. What  you can do though is stop their support lines.

And that’s the mindset Manchester United must be in when dealing with City’s Kevin De Bruyne in the derby this evening.

We all know United’s attacking strengths, especially on the counter, but what we saw in their defeat to RB Leipzig in the Champions League were their defensive frailties.

In particular, they sat far too deep with a back five.

So there was no major surprise that all three of Leipzig’s goals came from crosses.

You want to be compact away from home but the deeper you sit the narrower you become and then you’re in big trouble, especially when you are up against the likes of City’s Kyle Walker, Benjamin Mendy or Joao Cancelo.

City have resorted to a more solid 4-2-3-1 since they were well beaten away to Tottenham using a 4-3-3 and will no doubt keep possession when they visit Old Trafford.

They have had more of the ball than the opposition in nine of their ten games this season, the only exception being a tricky trip to Leeds.

City will likely have two sitters in Rodri, Ilkay Gundogan or Fernandinho, meaning De Bruyne is given a free role in the No 10 position.

And that could spell danger if United sit as deep as they did midweek.

If De Bruyne gets in the hole between the midfield and defence and has time to turn and dictate, it will be game over for United.

Their full-backs or centre-backs will be forced to step in and that leaves space either for City to attack from deep or through wide men Raheem Sterling and Riyad Mahrez.

United must get their distances spot on and ensure they block off De Bruyne’s support lines.

If you were up against Messi, Suarez and Neymar, you would make sure Sergio Busquets could not turn and pass — do that and you had a chance.

So United’s midfield must be  prepared to squeeze the likes of Rodri and Gundogan.

Meanwhile the defence must remain brave and keep as high as possible to ensure De Bruyne is completely crowded out.

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