MANCHESTER UNITED are up against recent history in the next round of the Europa League with their opponents Real Betis having already BEATEN them this season.
Erik ten Hag masterminded a 2-1 comeback victory over Barcelona on Thursday night to give United passage into the last-16.
And they face Spanish opposition again in the next round after being paired with Betis.
But it won’t be the first time the sides have met this season – with the LaLiga side coming out on top previously.
As the World Cup edged towards to it’s dramatic conclusion, club football began its preparation to get back under way with some friendlies.
One of those friendlies saw Man Utd visit Spain and take on Real Betis, where they lost 1-0 thanks to Nabil Fekir’s 49th minute strike.
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However, the line up that day saw a very different XI take to the field to the one United are likely to field when they face off again.
The game, on December 10, saw just two members of the team who faced Barcelona start on the pitch, those being David De Gea and Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
Second-half Barca subs Alejandro Garnacho and Scott McTominay were also handed starts against Betis.
Crocked ace Anthony Martial started the match up top, but was only given a 45 minute run-out in the fixture.
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Victor Lindelof, who started last weekend’s 3-0 win over Leicester, was one of two stars who completed the entire fixture, the other being McTominay.
The rest of the squad saw a string of squad players and youngsters played in order to give Ten Hag a look at them.
Teden Mengi and Brandon Williams completed the defence.
Isak Hansen-Aaroen partnered McTominay in the midfield, while Zidane Iqbal provided the side’s creativity ahead of them.
Outside of previously established stars De Gea, Lindelof, Wan-Bissaka, McTominay and Martial there have not been many appearances from the rest of this squad throughout the season.
Wingers Garnacho and Elanga have 48 appearances this season between them, though most of these have come from the bench.
While Williams is the only other player to have an appearance to his name.
One star who came onto the pitch at half-time was recently handed his Prem debut by Ten Hag, 17-year-old Kobbie Mainoo.
However, before Ten Hag and Co look at the Betis fixture, they have a Carabao Cup final showdown against Newcastle to contend with.
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Man Utd face being without talisman Marcus Rashford after he picked up an injury in the Barcelona game.
Ten Hag has also urged his side to ignore Newcastle’s “annoying” time-wasting tactics.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
