Manchester United has been punished for failing to get the 2-goal margin victory against Real Sociedad in the UEFA Europa League final group stage matches last Thursday.The Red Devils needed to win convincingly to grab the top spot in their group and qualify straight for the round of 16.
However, Erik Ten Hag’s side could only manage a 1-0 victory, meaning that they finished second and will face one of the teams that dropped from the UEFA Champions League into the UEFA Europa League.
Out of the eight teams, Barcelona got out of the pots in the draws made in Nyon, Switzerland, on Monday to face the Red Devils.
Despite facing a tough group with German champions Bayern Munich, Italian Giants Inter Milan, and Czech side Viktoria Plzen in the UEFA Champions League, where they eventually finished third, Barcelona manager Xavi insisted that the play-off tie against Manchester United is going to be a huge task for his team.
“We will have to compete, going to Manchester against a really top rival and a historic side which has grown a lot with the arrival of [Erik] ten Hag, [They have] great individual players, and it is the toughest rival once again in the Europa League. It’s a massive challenge for us.” Xavi said.
Elsewhere, Italian club Juventus would face French side Nantes, Sporting Lisbon will play Midtjylland, Shakhtar Donetsk and Stade Rennes, Ajax and Union Berlin will play each other while Sevilla got PSV and RB Salzburg was paired against Roma, Bayer Leverkusen and Monaco will battle.
Europa League play-off draw:
Barcelona vs. Man Utd
Juventus vs. Nantes
Sporting vs. Midtjylland
Shakhtar vs. Rennes
Ajax vs. Union Berlin
Bayer 04 vs. Monaco
Sevilla vs. PSV
RB Salzburg vs. Roma

Daniel Ademiju Idowu