Europa League Draw: Manchester United Face Barcelona In The Play-Off Round

Posted by Samson Kankan Latest Headlines, Sports News Monday, November 7th, 2022

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – The race for second most coveted trophy in club football heats up, the final is slated to be played in Budapest’s Puskás Aréna on May 31 2023.

If there was one team Erik ten Hag would have wanted to avoid, it would probably have been Barcelona.
United were drawn as the first seeded team to be paired with the Catalan giants.

After elimination from the Champions League, Xavi had claimed his side were favourites for the competition.

They were disappointing in Europe’s premier club competition, picking up just one point from four games against Bayern Munich and Inter Milan but they are flying high at the top of LaLiga with 11 wins from 13 games.

It won’t be an easy game at all for United but they do have the benefit of playing the second leg at Old Trafford.

The fact that this is a Europa League knockout game is perhaps a sign of how far both clubs have fallen.

In 2008-09 and 2010-11 this was the Champions League final with a Lionel Messi-inspired Barcelona coming out on top on both occasions – 2-0 and 3-1 respectively.

Erik ten Hag’s side will be out for revenge and they may also come face-to-face with their long-time target Frenkie de Jong.

DRAW IN FULL

BARCELONA VS MANCHESTER UNITED

JUVENTUS VS NANTES

SPORTING LISBON VS MIDTJYLLAND

SHAKHTAR DONETSK VS STADE RENNAIS

AJAX VS UNION BERLIN

BAYER LEVERKUSEN VS AS MONACO

SEVILLA VS PSV EINDHOVEN

RB SALZBURG VS ROMA