Curiosity served with the return of CR7 to the Camp Nou in one of the most challenging duels of the competition
The blaugrana will face one of the ‘cocchi’ of the draw, whose draw will be played in three months
Luck, once again, did not smile at Barca in the European draw. If Bayern Munich, Inter and Viktoria Plzen played in the group stage of the Champions League in what Xavi called the “most difficult draw in recent years”, the level is not lowered in the European League of play-offs. Manchester United will be the first rival of the blaugrana in this new competition.
It is true that Manchester United are not going through their best moment – they are fifth classified, eleven points behind Arsenal, the leader of the table. However, the weight of history accompanies him and he is one of the clear candidates to compete in the final at the Puskás Arena in Budapest.
It will be a reunion night, the most infamous and the one that comes to mind is that of Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese has faced FC Barcelona 34 times, having claimed ten wins, nine draws and 15 losses; as well as scoring 20 goals. Three of these occurred in his first stop at Old Trafford, highlighting the 2009 Champions League final which ended up being Blaugrana.
They will also face Barça Casemiro, the recent signing of Erik ten Hag’s men in the last market, and Raphäel Varane., who changed teams in 2021. Without forgetting Frenkie de Jong, who was close to packing his bags in the summer, headed to Manchester, at the request of the Dutch coach. The operation has not received the green light, but neither club has thrown in the towel to try to reach an agreement.
duel of champions
As they say, a draw worthy of being played in the Champions League. The squad of both teams is one of the most complete in the Old Continent. De Gea, Dalot -in the Barça radar to reinforce the right-back-, McTominay, Bruno Fernandes, Rashford, Jadon Sancho or Antony are some of the stars.
United get to this point, later comes second in group E of the Europa League, tied with Real Sociedad at 15 points, but with an overall favorable budget for the people of San Sebastian. The sheriff was third place, while Omonia Nicosia was unable to open her locker.
Barça are the Spanish team that Manchester United have faced several times: 13 in total. The balance is favorable for the Catalans: six wins for the Catalans, four draws and three wins for the English. In the scorers section, the “red devils” have conceded 24 goals, having scored 15 goals against them.
