Twitter erupts as Cristiano Ronaldo is set to face Barcelona in the Europa League with Manchester United

The Red Devils could only finish second in Group E of the Europa League, with Real Sociedad claiming top spot with a superior goal difference of one.

Meanwhile, Barcelona finished third in Group C of the Champions League, with Bayern Munich winning the group and Inter Milan pipping them to second place.

It sees a side that finished third in the Europa League group stages face a side that were relegated from third place in the Champions League group stages.

The tie neutrals had hoped to see has been drawn - Manchester United will now go up against Barcelona in a blockbuster encounter.

The last time the two sides met in Europe was in the Champions League campaign of 2018-19.

Barcelona came out on top on that occasion with a 4-0 aggregate quarter-final victory.

Cristiano Ronaldo will return to the Nou Camp, where he spent years battling Barca with Real Madrid in the El Clasico.

He boasts a record of 20 goals in 34 appearances against the Blaugrana in all competitions.

Meanwhile, Juventus, who finished third behind Paris Saint-Germain and Benfica in Group H of the Champions League, have drawn Ligue 1 outfit Nantes.

Ajax, who came closest to winning the Europa League in 2017 when they lost to Manchester United in the final, face the impressive Union Berlin.

However, all eyes will be on Manchester United and Cristiano Ronaldo's return to the Nou Camp to face Barcelona in a tantalizing clash.

Intriguing subplots emerge as Cristiano Ronaldo's Manchester United draw Barcelona

Cristiano Ronaldo's return to Catalonia is just one of the most interesting stories to come out of Manchester United facing Barcelona in the playoffs.

The Red Devils chased Barca midfielder Frenkie De Jong throughout the summer to no avail.

The Dutchman was keen to play Champions League football and wanted to remain at the Nou Camp.

This is despite United reportedly agreeing to an €85 million fee for the midfielder.

However, De Jong now faces the side that desperately wanted him in the Europa League.

He will also come up against his former manager Erik ten Hag, who coached him at Ajax to an Eredivisie title.

The legendary defender left Old Trafford in 2008 and returned to Barca for €5 million.

He then won the Champions League the season after with a 2-0 win over United in the final.

About the author

Matthew is a European and international football journalist at Sportskeeda who has been covering news, rumors and match reports for close to 3 years. Learning creative writing from University of Essex, he combined his skills and passion for football take up writing for the sport professionally.

Matthew always strives to go beyond a story and offer unique and lesser-known insights, while maintaining an unbiased tone in his articles. His reporting exploits at the company have helped him gain a humungous readership of 25 million, with one of his articles raking in a whopping 724,000 reads.

A Manchester United fan since childhood, Matthew admired Sir Alex Ferguson for his loyalty and brave coaching style. His favorite footballer is Thierry Henry, believing the Frenchman to be uniquely talented and charismatic. An ardent Three Lions fan, England's penalty shootout win over Colombia in 2018 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment of all time, and he believes that Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe will have a Ballon d’Or duopoly after Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

He also follows his local EFL League Two clubs AFC Wimbledon and Sutton United, and spends his free time watching and writing about professional wrestling. He also likes to work out, watch movies and go for night outs.

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