FC Barcelona draw Manchester United in the Europa League

FC Barcelona have been drawn against Manchester United in the Europa League. The first leg will be played on February 16 at Spotify Camp Nou and the away leg a week later on February 23.

The play off round of the UEFA Europa League sees meetings between the sides who came third in their groups in the UEFA Champions League group stage this season, including FC Barcelona, against those sides who finished second in their UEFA Europa League group. 

Manchester United European pedigree

The Premier League is a tough draw for Barça as the club from Manchester have a fearsome pedigree in European competition, having won six trophies which include three Champions League wins and a victory in the 2017 UEFA Europa League. 

Manchester United have also met Barça twice in the Champions League final, the blaugranes coming out on top in 2009 and 2011. Domestically, United have won 20 league titles, more than any other English club. 

Cristiano Ronaldo returns to Barcelona

One of the most intriguing aspects of the draw will see the possible return of Cristiano Ronaldo to face Barça. The Portuguese striker faced Barça in his first spell with United as well as during his time with Real Madrid and Juventus. 

Talented squad 

Aside from Ronaldo, the English club can also boast the talents of players such as Bruno Fernandes, Antony, Jadon Sancho, Casemiro, Christian Eriksen and Marcos Rashford. Their current coach is Dutchman Erik ten Hag who was in charge of an Ajax team containing Frenkie de Jong that reached the semi finals of the Champions League in 2018/19. 

The rest of the draw for the play off round: 

Juventus v Nantes
Sporting v Midtjylland
Shakhtar Donetsk v Stade Rennais
Ajax v Union Berlin
Bayer Leverkusen v AS Monaco
Sevilla v PSV Eindhoven
FC Salzburg v Roma