KEY POINTS

  • Barcelona are set to take on Man Utd in Europa's play-off round
  • Only one of the two teams will reach Round of 16
  • They last met in the 2018-19 Champions League

FC Barcelona head coach Xavi Hernandez is not pleased with his side's Europa League play-off round draw.

After dropping from the Champions League to Europa League for a second straight season, Barcelona on Monday drew Manchester United. Xavi said "it's the worst draw we could have got."

"It is the most difficult opponent once again. But we will look forward to it. They are a historic side, they have grown a lot with the arrival of Erik ten Hag, they have great players. It's the worst draw we could have got. Once again. No luck," Xavi told reporters after the draw.

Barcelona and Manchester United will now battle it out for a place in 2022-23 Europa League's Round of 16, which is scheduled to be played next year. The first leg of the play-off will be played at Camp Nou on Feb. 16 and the return leg will take place at Old Trafford on Feb. 24.

This draw confirmed that one of the two European giants will crash out even before reaching the last 16 of the tournament. While both Manchester United and Barcelona have enjoyed partial success this season, their struggles still prevail.

Erik ten Hag's Manchester United suffered a 3-1 loss against Aston Villa in the Premier League on Sunday. On the other hand, Barcelona's last defeat in the league happened in October when they traveled to the Spanish capital to take on Real Madrid. Barcelona lost 3-1 at Santiago Bernabeu.

However, Barcelona have now won four league games in succession, and with Real Madrid's shocking 3-2 loss to Rayo Vallecano, the Catalans are two points clear at the top of the 2022-23 La Liga.

Xavi's Barcelona need to beat Bayern in their last group game to be sure of qualification
Xavi took Barcelona's charge in the middle of last season AFP / LLUIS GENE

Manchester United and Barcelona's last meeting came in the 2018-19 Champions League campaign. The Catalans had knocked the Old Trafford side out from the quarter-final stage on a 4-0 aggregate at the time. Interestingly, Xavi was part of the star-studded Barcelona side, managed by Pep Guardiola, that won two Champions League finals at Manchester United's expense, which was under Sir Alex Ferguson.

The upcoming play-off clash would also see Barcelona's Frenkie de Jong playing against Manchester United. Ten Hag and Co. spent the entire summer trying to convince De Jong to move to England, but all their efforts went in vain.

Soccer