Paul Scholes and Owen Hargreaves were not in total agreement when they discussed who they want Manchester United to face in the Europa League knockout round play-off tie.
Manchester United knew they needed to beat Real Sociedad by two clear goals on Thursday night, however, Erik ten Hag’s side could only manager a 1-0 win in San Sebastián thanks to some heroics from youngster Alejandro Garnacho.
A lack of clear cut chances was the biggest downfall from the team on the night and Erik ten Hag’s players have been wasteful in front of goal this season.
The academy graduate opened the scoring on 17 minutes and was – by far – United’s most influential player in attack. It has even raised debate amongst the online community of United fans over whether Garnacho’s rise to prominence spells danger for Jadon Sancho.
However, the result means United will now need to win a play-off against one of the Champions League sides dropping into the Europa League. Potential opponents include: Barcelona, Juventus, Ajax, Bayer Leverkusen, RB Salzburg, Sevilla, Shakhtar Donetsk and Sporting Lisbon.
Scholes wants United to draw Barcelona in the play-offs, whereas Hargreaves, who fails to name a preferred opponent for the next round, would rather wait until the final to play the La Liga giants.
Speaking to BT Sport, Scholes made it clear he wants a tough tie: “Who do you want to avoid… I think Barcelona, 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.
“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.”
Meanwhile, Hargreaves would prefer to wait until the all important finale should both teams get that far.
"Barcelona would probably be the toughest draw!"
Paul Scholes and Owen Hargreaves take a look at who Manchester United could face should they finish second in their group after tonight's game… 👀
🗣️ @julesbreach pic.twitter.com/6jL3aOx7Ym
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) November 3, 2022
Footage courtesy of BT Sport
“I’m not like Scholesy, I hope they avoid Barca,” the former Bayern Munich and United midfielder said.
“Get Barca in the final, don’t want to play Barca because that could be a really hard game.
“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.”
