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Dimitar Berbatov fears Manchester United form dip will end Champions League run against Barcelona

Dimitar Berbatov fears the psychological effect of double defeats to Wolves will have on Manchester United.

The former United star previously backed Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men to potentially cause a Champions League upset against Lionel Messi’s Barcelona later this month.

But since those predictions, United’s form has taken a turn for the worst and they suffered a second defeat in three matches to newly-promoted Wolves.

And the Bulgaria legend has some ominous words for Red Devils fans.

“Manchester United have hit a bad patch of form at just the wrong time and it's been Wolves who have inflicted damaging defeats on them twice,” the Betfair ambassador said.

“With all due respect to Wolves, while they're a good Premier League side they aren't of the calibre of City or Spurs, and certainly not of United's next opponents, Barcelona, and of course we need to ask questions about my old side right now.

“I'm concerned by United's poor form and if they continue to make mistakes like they have been doing recently then, let's face it, they are going to be punished by Barcelona.

“They are making their lives difficult at the moment and it's looking tough to make the top four in the Premier League now.”

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United went on a 12-match unbeaten run after Solskjaer’s original appointment as caretaker manager in December, following Jose Mourinho’s sacking.

They have since been beaten by Arsenal and Wolves in the Premier League, as well as Wolves again in the FA Cup quarter-finals.

PSG also inflicted a 2-0 first-leg defeat upon the Red Devils, although they overturning the deficit in Paris.

Despite the form dip, his impressive time in charge and morale improvement around the Premier League giants led to Solskjaer being named permanent manager in March.

But Berbatov is concerned the players may suffer from complacency against the smaller teams.

He added: “United went on that incredible undefeated run when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took over and this is their first bad patch.

“You know, when you're winning everything feels natural and good but an important thing is knowing how to react to a defeat. I'm sure Ole knows what to do here and he will have his side fired up and ready for Barca.

“In football sometimes you have that strange thing where a club can falter against small teams but turn it on against big teams. It's crucial to get motivated for every game, not just the big ones.

“Sir Alex Ferguson sometimes didn't need to motivate us for the big games, his job and real skill was to motivate us for the small games.”

For more from Betfair Ambassador Dimitar Berbatov head to https://betting.betfair.com/football/dimitar-berbatov/

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