"If we want to be champions" - Manchester United star sends message after drawing Barcelona in Europa League

Manchester United star David de Gea reacted to drawing Barcelona in the UEFA Europa League playoffs.

United will play the Blaugranas in the first leg on 16 February, 2023, at Camp Nou. The second leg will take place on 23 February at Old Trafford.

David de Gea has now reacted to the draw as he said:

“We know Barça is a great team & I think they are playing well, but if we want to be champions of the Europa League, we will have to face the best teams, and Barca is one of them. Playing against such clubs is always a challenge, so we must be prepared.”

Xavi recently said that his team have been unlucky with the draws. He said (via MARCA):

"We've not been lucky with the draw, getting the toughest opponent we could get. But, we have to compete. The players will be even more motivated against a strong opponent."

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag insisted his team aims to win against Aston Villa

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag.

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag said that his team aims to win the clash against Aston Villa in the third round of the EFL Cup on Thursday, 10 November. Ahead of the game, he said (via Manchester United's official website):

"First of all, all the games that we play, we have only one aim. We have to win. So that is the most important. We have to win, so we put the best players on the pitch we have."

He added:

"For every game, we make a proper plan for the lineup and tomorrow is the same. Of course, we have a lot of games to cover and this is a different competition. We plan some changes but want to play a strong team. We have only one aim: we have to win tomorrow, to go to the next round."

Ten Hag further spoke about his team's injuries:

"An injuries update? Yeah, there are some players coming back and also some question marks. As you have seen, Anthony Martial, for the last 20 minutes, was back at Villa, so we are happy with that and we hope he can continue this tomorrow. He will be in the squad, we have to see, but he will have minutes, definitely, if he has recovered."