CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE LIVE MATCH

Barcelona visit Manchester United in the opening leg of their Europa League playoff on Thursday night, and it promises to be a spectacular matchup between two European powerhouses.

Even though both clubs have Champions League pedigree, this will be their first ever head-to-head matchup in Europe's secondary club championship, played out over the course of two legs.
Having finished third in their Champions League group earlier this season behind Bayern Munich and Inter Milan, Barcelona will compete in the Europa League knockout stages for the second year in a row.

Catalan giants FC Barcelona missed out on a top-two finish despite winning all three of their matches against Viktoria Plzen (at home and away).

Since losing 3-0 at home to Bayern on October 26 (their only loss at Camp Nou in 14 games this season), Xavi's side has excelled on the domestic front, going 16 games without a loss across all competitions, including nine wins in their last 10 La Liga matches, the Catalan club's latest success being a narrow 1-0 win away at Villarreal last weekend.

Barca's near-immaculate run in the top division has coincided with a wobble in form from rivals and reigning champions Real Madrid, and Xavi's team is now on set to capture their first La Liga trophy in four years as they have an 11-point advantage at the summit, despite having played a game more.

Barça would rather be playing in Europe's greatest club tournament, the Champions League, but the thought of winning the Europa League for the first time is likely to drive Xavi and co. as they try to juggle domestic obligations with a two-legged duel against Man United.

While they've lost five of their past eleven European home games at Camp Nou, Barcelona enters Thursday's encounter having won the last four times they've faced off against Man United. In fact, the Red Devils were defeated in the Champions League final in 2009 and 2011, and then again in the quarterfinals of the same tournament in 2019 by a score of 4-0 on aggregate.

Catalan giants FC Barcelona missed out on a top-two finish despite winning all three of their matches against Viktoria Plzen (at home and away).

Since losing 3-0 at home to Bayern on October 26 (their only loss at Camp Nou in 14 games this season), Xavi's side has excelled on the domestic front, going 16 games without a loss across all competitions, including nine wins in their last 10 La Liga matches, the Catalan club's latest success being a narrow 1-0 win away at Villarreal last weekend.

Barca's near-immaculate run in the top division has coincided with a wobble in form from rivals and reigning champions Real Madrid, and Xavi's team is now on set to capture their first La Liga trophy in four years as they have an 11-point advantage at the summit, despite having played a game more.

Barça would rather be playing in Europe's greatest club tournament, the Champions League, but the thought of winning the Europa League for the first time is likely to drive Xavi and co. as they try to juggle domestic obligations with a two-legged duel against Man United.

While they've lost five of their past eleven European home games at Camp Nou, Barcelona enters Thursday's encounter having won the last four times they've faced off against Man United. In fact, the Red Devils were defeated in the Champions League final in 2009 and 2011, and then again in the quarterfinals of the same tournament in 2019 by a score of 4-0 on aggregate.

The last time Manchester United won the Champions League was in 2007–08, but in the almost 15 years since then, they've had to get acclimated to the rigors of Europa League play by qualifying for the tournament six times in the previous 12 seasons.

The Red Devils got off to a rough start in this year's group stage with a 1-0 home loss to Real Sociedad, but Erik ten Hag's men responded well with five straight wins, though they ultimately had to settle for second place behind Group E winners Sociedad on goal difference, forcing them into the playoff round rather than directly qualifying for a spot in the last 16.

Man United will face Newcastle United in the EFL Cup final later this month, and they will play West Ham United in the FA Cup fifth round in March. They are now five points out of the Premier League lead, despite current leaders Arsenal having two games in hand.

United may have closed the gap to the top of the league if they had won all five of their recent league matches. Nevertheless, after losing on the road to both Crystal Palace and Arsenal last month, the Red Devils salvaged a point in a 2-2 draw with Leeds United last Wednesday, and then won again on the road at Elland Road on Sunday, 2-0, with to late goals from Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho.

For United, the attention now changes to Thursday's journey to Catalonia, where they will attempt to win their first game against Barcelona at Camp Nou in their fifth attempt and acquire an advantage heading into the second leg at Old Trafford in two weeks' time.

Despite losing just four of their 16 away matches in all competitions this season, the Red Devils will want to improve their record against Spanish opponents, as they have won only three of their past 14 knockout matchups in European play. United lost to Atletico Madrid in the second round of the Champions League last year after a 1-0 home loss in the first leg and a 1-1 away tie.