Xavi laments about Barcelona’s tough draw against Man Utd

After a disappointing group stage in the Champions League in which they were eliminated from the competition by Bayern and Inter,

must now ready themselves to compete in the Europa League like they did last year.

Starting February 2023, Xavi’s men have to participate in the knockout stage playoffs in which 8 teams from the Champions League who finished 3rd in their group must face 8 teams from the Europa League group stage who finished second. They weren’t lucky with the draw though as their opponent was revealed to be

.

"We will have to compete, going to Manchester against a really tough rival,"

Xavi said following the draw.

"It's a historic rival that has grown a lot with the arrival of Erik ten Hag, with great individual players. We have been given the most difficult rival, yet again, in the Europa League.

"

There is always a rival who also has the obligation to win, like ourselves. To compete, we have to analyse Manchester. We will try, this club has never won the Europa League.

"It's a massive challenge for us, our players will probably be more motivated against a strong team."

To make matters worse for Barcelona, United has

who has haunted Barcelona at times with his goals, netting 20 times in his 34 matches against the Catalans. Xavi rejected the notion of Cristiano being past his prim, saying:

"He seems to me to be a great player who has marked an era, and he can still make a difference.

"I like to win, I hate to lose, whoever is in front of me. I want to win and be competitive."