Jordi Alba makes Europa League draw admission ahead of Barcelona vs Man Utd

Jordi Alba has been speaking ahead of Barcelona’s clash with Manchester United in the Europa League.

Barca and United are preparing to go head-to-head in their Europa League play-off first leg at Camp Nou on Thursday, and it is undoubtedly the most exciting tie of the round. It’s a clash that woudln’t look out of place in the Champions League, but these are two giants who have fallen from grace in recent years, and they share more in common than they realise.

Both have struggled to maintain the standards set in previous years over recent times, but Barca and United are now trending in the right direction, making significant progress under the stewardship in Xavi Hernandez, in the case of the Blaugrana, and Erik ten Hag in the case of the Red Devils.

Barcelona are a little further along in the process, currently top of La Liga and on a run of 11 straight wins across all competitions, but United have been in fine form themselves over recent weeks, and it should set up a very interesting two-legged tie.

The first leg comes on Thursday night, at Camp Nou, though Barca veteran Alba says he would prefer to play the second leg at home, rather than at Old Trafford.

“I prefer to play the second leg at home with the help of the fans, but neither has a huge impact,” Alba told reporters. “It will be a dream game with the fans cheering us on. I hope we can get a good result at Camp Nou.”

Speaking more generally about the tie, Alba added: “United are in a very good moment. It’s a team with great players. Now they are winning lots of games. It could easily be the knockout stages of the Champions League. They will be two complicated games, as much here as it will be away from home with their great support. We expect to go through with the help of our fans.”