He didn't want to face Manchester United, wants Erik ten Hag to be confident

The efforts made by Man Utd to avoid this round were important, it was very difficult for the Englishmen to have lost the first Europa League match against Real Sociedad at Old Trafford, there was a controversial penalty that Erik ten Hag recalled a few days ago when it was confirmed that they would be second in the group, it was a complicated moment for the start of their participation in the European competition, they wanted to achieve a good classification avoiding this round prior to the round of 16.

From that game they understood that they were at a disadvantage to Real Sociedad, they had to get as many points as possible in the group stage, that was how they beat Sheriff Tiraspol of Moldova and Omonia of Cyprus, 12 points out of a possible 12 which gave the team a small chance to be first in the group, the problem was also that Real Sociedad won all their games, they did not give away distance for Manchester United to get closer than three points away.

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Prior to the last day of the group stage, there was a three point difference, now Erik ten Hag's team had to visit Real Sociedad in Spain, where the main objective in the team was to get the victory with a two goal difference to be able to snatch that first position, from the start of the game they were aggressive to seek that result, a few minutes into the game Cristiano Ronaldo would assist the 18 year old Alejandro Garnacho to score the first goal.

The rest of the game was complicated to find the second and that would define the group, Real Sociedad recovered and could not get that goal, Manchester United confirmed that they would be second in the group and would wait for the Champions League rival. It was Barcelona, and Xavi was concerned about this clash. "It's the most difficult opponent, but we'll be looking forward to it. They are a historic team, they have grown a lot with Erik ten Hag, they have great players. It's the worst opponent we could have. Once again, no luck," he commented on the match they will have.

Xavi wants Erik ten Hag to be confident to beat them in the elimination round

The Red Devils will have a tough test in search of a result in this match, they know it will be important to have a good performance in the first leg when they visit Barcelona, they will not be able to count on Lisandro Martinez, they will have to look for someone to cover his position. After getting a good result in the first game they will try to close the tie at home, they want to reach the next round by eliminating Barcelona who come from the Champions League.