Xavi on Man Utd tie: Once again we have drawn the most difficult team
The Barcelona coach gave his thoughts on the Europa League draw on Monday
Xavi Hernandez says Barcelona got the worst possible draw after being paired with Manchester United in the Europa League playoff round.
After facing Bayern Munich and Inter in the Champions League, which saw them eliminated, they will now take on United over two legs for a place in the last 16 of the Europa League.
The first leg will be played at Camp Nou on Feb. 16 and the return leg at Old Trafford on Feb. 23.
"The draw has given us the most difficult opponent once again," Xavi said. "But we will look forward to it and we will compete. They are a historic side, they have grown a lot with the arrival of Ten Hag, they have great players.
"It's the worst draw we could have got. Once again. No luck. Sometimes it's a plus to play against the best sides. Maybe it will bring the best out of us here and at Old Trafford. It's a challenge."
Barça also entered the Europa League last season when Eintracht Frankfurt knocked them out in the last eight. Does Xavi feel there is an obligation to win it this time?
"But we are also always up against teams who will also be obliged to win," he added. "In the press, you like to talk about obligations, failures... It's a challenge.
"We are going to try to win it. The club has never won the Europa League and we're going to go all out to try and win it, there is nothing else for it."
