Paul Scholes has mixed feelings on whether he wants Manchester United to face Barcelona in their Europa League play-off next February.
The Old Trafford legend initially salivated at the prospect of watching his beloved Red Devils clash with the La Liga giants, only to go back on his word and claim that Erik ten Hag's side should hope to avoid them. As United failed to top their Europa League group on Thursday by only beating Real Sociedad by one goal rather than two, Ten Hag and Co. will be forced to play a two-legged tie in four months' time to decide whether they'll make it through to the last 16.
Those matches will be against a team demoted from the Champions League, such as Barcelona, who slumped to a third-place finish at the group stage and subsequently dropped down to Europe's second-rate competition.
Ahead of Thursday's final round of Europa League group games, Scholes - who faced Barcelona on multiple occasions during his prestigious career - made clear that he hoped to see the two teams meet again next year. "I would love them to draw Barcelona to get the juices flowing and get a good atmosphere," the pundit declared on BT Sport. "I think they are capable of beating Barcelona."
However, it seems that images of Robert Lewandowski, Ousmane Dembele, Sergio Busquets and Pedri flashed across Scholes' mind and he soon reminded himself of Barcelona's quality. "On the other hand, they are a really good team," the former midfielder admitted. "As much as I want to play them, they are probably the team you want to avoid."
Scholes' ex-teammate and punditry colleague Owen Hargreaves agreed with his latter assessment, preferring to face Xavi's team - who trail Spanish league leaders Real Madrid by a single point in the table - later in the tournament.
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"I would want to avoid Barcelona because that could be a really hard game. Get them in the final," Hargreaves quipped. "They are all really good footballing sides with some good managers. In all fairness, there is no easy draw for Manchester United. In the end they will be the favourites outside of Barcelona."
The Red Devils will learn their fate next Monday, with the draw taking place at 12pm UK time. Ajax, Bayer Leverkusen, Juventus, Red Bull Salzburg, Sevilla, Shakhtar Donetsk and Sporting Lisbon are also making their way down from the Champions League and serve as potential opponents alongside Barcelona.
If United had managed to win by two or more goals against Real Sociedad, then they wouldn't have to feature in the play-off round, which not only decreases their chances of winning the competition but also muddles their fixture schedule. Ten Hag's men could be forced into a hectic run of games as the Premier League bids to make up for lost time following the World Cup.
