Manchester United now know who they will face in the Europa League knockout playoff round.

Manchester United now know who they will face in the first knock-out stage of the Europa League.

The Red Devils fell just short of winning their Europa League group, losing out to Real Sociedad on goal difference. United finished level on points and head-to-head with the La Liga side, but they missed out on goals.

What that means is that United have to take part in the round of 32, which has recently become a knock-out play-off round. Europa League group runners-up take on the teams who have falled out of the Champions League by way of finishing third in their groups during this round. The winners of this play-off round then progress to take on one of the Europa League group winners in the Round of 16.

The draw for the play-off round was made on Monday, and we now know United will take on Barcelona in the next round, representing a horrific draw for the Red Devils. Barcelona missed out on progressing through their Champions League group to Inter Milan and Bayern Munich.

But they have been dangerous in La Liga this season and currently sit top of the Spanish top-flight, albeit Real Madrid can move a point ahead should they win their game in hand. Xavi Hernandez’s men are the one team United did not want to face at this early stage, and regardless of the result, with two games against Barca, Erik ten Hag’s men really will pay the price for not winning their group.

United don’t have a great record against Barca, winning just three of 13 meetings, drawing four times. Barca have won six times, including all of the last four meetings. Barca, of course, beat United in the 2011 Champions League final, and since then, they have knocked the Red Devils out of the same competition with a 4-0 aggregate win in 2019.

A lot has changed for both clubs since then, but Barca are likely to be favourites when the two lock horns in the Europa League knockout stage. The first leg will take place at Camp Nou on 16 February, and the second leg will be at Old Trafford on 23 February.

Here is the draw in full.

Barcelona vs Manchester United

Juventus v Nantes

Sporting Lisbon v Midtjylland

Shakhtar Donetsk v Rennes

Ajax v Union Berlin

Bayer Leverkusen v Monaco

Sevilla v PSV

RB Salzburg v AS Roma

Who did Man Utd get in the Europa League draw?

Here is the draw in full.