MY ACCOUNT
Barcelona will face Manchester United in their return to the Europa League after the Blaugrana were drawn against the Premier League club in the knockout round play-offs.
Xavi’s side dropped into Europe’s second-tier competition for the second season running after failing to progress from the Champions League group stages, finishing behind Bayern Munich and Inter.
It sets up the outstanding tie of the play-off round with Erik ten Hag’s United, who are looking to end a trophy drought stretching back to when they last won the Europa League under Jose Mourinho in 2017.
United came second to Real Sociedad in the Europa League group stage, ultimately missing out to La Real by one goal.
They have paid the price for their failure in that regard, with Barca arguably the toughest draw they could possibly get. La Real are already through to the competition’s last 16 with the other group winners.
Joining Barca in dropping down from the Champions League are Juventus, though they will likely be much more content with their draw after being paired with Ligue 1 side Nantes.
Sevilla, record six-time winners, will face off with PSV, while fellow Eredivisie side Ajax were paired with Bundesliga upstarts Union Berlin.
Bayer Leverkusen have received a fairly tough draw after exiting the Champions League as they will tussle with Monaco.
Shakhtar Donetsk also did not have enough to continue in the Champions League in the new year. A date with Rennes awaits them.
Europa League knockout round play-offs:
Barcelona v Manchester United
Juventus v Nantes
Sporting CP v Midtjylland
Shakhtar Donetsk v Rennes
Ajax v Union Berlin
Bayer Leverkusen v Monaco
Sevilla v PSV
Salzburg v Roma
