Alejandro Garnacho and Cristiano Ronaldo combined to seal Manchester United’s win over Real Sociedad on Thursday (Getty)
Paul Scholes is hoping Manchester United get Barcelona in their Europa League play-off tie.
United sealed a 1-0 win over Real Sociedad on Thursday evening but it wasn’t enough to finish top of Group E, which means Erik ten Hag’s side will need to win a play-off to reach the last-16.
Barcelona, Ajax and Juventus are among the teams who could play United having finished third in their Champions League groups this week.
And Scholes is relishing the prospect of United facing Barca, with the Europa League play-off draw due to take place on November 7 at midday.
‘Who do you want to avoid… I think Barca, I’d love to draw them, I’ve said it a few times, I’d love them to play against Barca, just to get the juices going, gets the atmosphere going at either ground,’ Scholes told BT Sport.
‘I think they’re capable of beating Barcelona. On the other hand, they’re a really good team, we know that.
‘They’re probably the only one who I’d think you would want to avoid, as much as I want to play against them.’
Robert Lewandowski and Barcelona are potential opponents for Manchester United in the Europa League (Shutterstock)
Meanwhile, Owen Hargreaves insists there’s no easy fixture for United in their Europa League play-off.
‘I’m not like Scholesey, I hope they avoid Barca,’ Hargreaves said.
‘Get Barca in the final, don’t want to play Barca because that could be a really hard game.
MANCHESTER UNITED’S POTENTIAL EUROPA LEAGUE OPPONENTS
Ajax, Barcelona, Bayer Leverkusen, Juventus, RB Salzburg, Sevilla, Shakhtar Donetsk, Sporting CP
More: News
‘But they’re all really good sides, good footballing sides, with good managers, Juventus, Sevilla, Shakhtar… I’ll be honest, there’s no easy one. Sporting were great in Tottenham’s group.
‘No easy ones, they’ve made it a little bit more difficult than it needed to be but in the end I think they’re favourites, regardless of who they play outside of Barcelona.’
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‘They’re probably the only one who I’d think you would want to avoid, as much as I want to play against them.’
