November 07, (THEWILL) – Barcelona will meet Manchester United in their first match back in the UEFA Europa League, after being paired with the English Premier League team in the playoffs for the knockout stage.
After failing to advance from the UEFA Champions League group stages and finishing behind Bayern Munich and Inter, Xavi’s team was relegated to Europe’s second-tier league for the second consecutive season.
It sets up the upcoming match with Erik ten Hag’s United, who are trying to break their trophy drought that dates back to their previous Europa League victory under Jose Mourinho in 2017.
In the Europa League group stage, United finished behind Real Sociedad and ultimately lost to La Real by one goal. They have paid a price for their shortcomings in that regard because La Real has already advanced to the round of 16, and Barca is undoubtedly the worst draw they could have received.
Juventus will probably be happier with their draw after being matched with Ligue 1 team, Nantes, but they will join Barca in exiting the Champions League.
The rest of the draw includes:
Barcelona versus Manchester United
Juventus versus Nantes
Sporting CP versus Midtjylland
Shakhtar Donetsk versus Rennes
Ajax versus Union Berlin
Bayer Leverkusen versus Monaco
Sevilla versus PSV
Salzburg versus Roma
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
