Erik ten Hag sends warning to Manchester United potential Europa League opponents

Erik ten Hag has insisted Manchester United can beat any of the teams left in this season's Europa League as long as they are "well-prepared and have strong belief".

United discover their round of 16 opponents on Friday having seen off Barcelona 2-1 at Old Trafford. The visitors had taken the lead thanks to Robert Lewandowski's penalty but second-half goals from Fred and Antony ensured United's name would be in the hat for the next round of the competition.

Ten Hag was asked after the game whether he had thought about who United could be pitted against in Friday's draw and, although he was keen to emphasise that the focus has now switched to the Carabao Cup final, he insisted his side could beat any of the teams left in the competition.

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"Doesn’t matter for me [the Europa League draw], I am focused on Newcastle United, that’s the only thing that counts," he told BT Sport. "It doesn’t matter who will come, we have to beat them all, we know that if you want to win.

"We respect every opponent, don’t get me wrong, but if you are well-prepared and we have strong belief, we can do it."

Ten Hag reserved special praise for Fred after the Barcelona victory. The Brazilian was instrumental in the win over the La Liga leaders and when asked after full-time about the tactics United use to get the best out of him, Ten Hag was quick to praise the 29-year-old.

"What he can do really well is make runs in behind at the right moment, the timing, he can get behind the midfielders of Barcelona," he added. "That was part of our game plan in Barcelona and again now I think it was really effective to make that from the second line, the runs."

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