Ronaldo becomes differentiator for Manchester United

DBasia.news – The draw for the play-off phase of the Europa League has been carried out. One of the draws is quite surprising, the meeting of two traditional European clubs who often meet in the Champions League, Manchester United and Barcelona.

Barcelona played in the Europa League after passing through the Champions League group stage which contained Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, and Viktoria Plzen. The last meeting between Barcelona and Man United was in 2019 in the quarter-finals.

For Xavi, the Barcelona coach, Man United is an opponent he has often faced in the past as a player. Especially against the Portuguese superstar, Cristiano Ronaldo, when he was still defending Man United (period one) or Real Madrid.

Even though he is now 37 years old and his performance is declining, Ronaldo, according to Xavi, can still be a differentiating player when playing. The Spanish coach praised Ronaldo as a top player who marked an era in football.

“I think Ronaldo is a great and great player. He has marked an era in the world of football and can still make a difference,” Xavi said praising Cristiano Ronaldo, as reported by the Mirror.

Ronaldo’s form has fallen considerably this season and has only had 3 goals and 2 assists in 16 games with Man United, but against Barcelona he has 20 goals and three assists in a total of 34 games.

However, according to Xavi, Barcelona will not only face Ronaldo but also Erik ten Hag’s Man United as a whole.

“The draw has given us the toughest rivals again, like in the group stage of the Champions League. Luck was not on our side. Manchester United is a great rival, a historic club, the worst (draw result) we could hope for,” stated Xavi.

“They have great individuality, but I will highlight the group they have. We will prepare well, analyze the opponent because we have to do it.”

“It’s not just Cristiano, we’re going up against a team that has grown a lot under Ten Hag and we have to challenge them on the pitch. (Man United) a great historic club, they will have the same urgency to win as us,” explained Xavi.