Jordi Cruyff is relishing a “special” Europa League tie between Barcelona and Manchester United but thinks it is a shame they will not meet later in the competition.
Barca finished behind Bayern Munich and Inter in Champions League Group C, plunging them into the Europa League for a second consecutive season.
Monday's knockout round play-off draw handed the Catalan giants a heavyweight clash with United, which Xavi lamented as the "most difficult" assignment possible.
Blaugrana sporting director Cruyff, who represented both clubs during his playing days, would like such a mouthwatering tie to have taken place in the latter stages of the Europa League.
"I think it's a draw that both teams would have preferred to have further down the line, not so quick, but that's the beauty of football, you never know what's going to come," Cruyff said.
"It came now, and it's probably going to be a tough match for both, but also very special as these are two historic football clubs.
"Barcelona is a club where the pressure is always at the max, everything you start, you always need to win. That's the pressure that these sorts of clubs have, the same that United will have.
"For us, it's a motivation and the fact that we get a team like this so quickly means that this competition isn't easy at all. It's difficult, but you know that we're motivated."
Barca have fond memories of their recent fixtures against United, having beaten the Red Devils in four successive meetings – including Champions League final triumphs in 2009 and 2011.
Football rumours: Arsenal among several clubs interested in Wolves’ Pedro Neto
Arsenal are reportedly lining up Wolves winger Pedro Neto for a summer transfer. According to the Daily Mirror, the Gunners considered launching a bid for the 23-year-old in 2022 but nothing materialised. The club are believed to have maintained their interest however, and join Liverpool, Aston Villa and Atletico Madrid in keeping tabs on the Portugal international.
Staying with Arsenal, the Daily Mail says negotiations have begun over a new contract for defender Ben White. The development comes despite the 25-year-old England international having three years left on his £120,000-a-week deal.
And The Sun says Manchester United have sent a scout to monitor 22-year-old Sporting Lisbon defender Goncalo Inacio, with a view to a potential January deal.
Social media round-upPlayers to watchBryan Cristante: Calciomercato reports Saudi Pro League club Al Nassr are set to make a move for the Roma midfielder.
Lucas Beraldo: Liverpool are keen on the 19-year-old Sao Paulo centre-back, according to website 90mins.
Mauricio Pochettino vows to continue to show belief in Chelsea’s young stars
Mauricio Pochettino promised Chelsea will continue to show belief in their young stars after Mykhailo Mudryk scored his first goal for the club in their 2-0 win against Fulham at Craven Cottage.
Armando Broja, making his first start since injuring his ACL in December, also netted as the visitors gave their most convincing performance yet of the manager’s reign and ended a run of three Premier League games without a goal.
Chelsea took the lead after 18 minutes when Mudryk chested down Levi Colwill’s expertly-flighted cross and nudged the ball past Bernd Leno as the Fulham goalkeeper advanced.
And within a minute it was two, Cole Palmer dispossessing Tim Ream who was careless with the ball at his feet and feeding Broja, who deflected the ball home off Ream’s attempted clearance.
It was a dominant first half from Chelsea with Palmer, making his first Premier League start for the club after impressing in the EFL Cup win against Brighton last week, making a critical difference coming deep to collect the ball and starting the visitors’ attacks.
Ian Maatsen, on at half-time in place of Mudryk, struck a post after the break as Pochettino’s side threatened a third, and it was not until 14 minutes from time that a lacklustre Fulham threatened a response when Robert Sanchez blocked Sasa Lukic’s close-range shot.
Pochettino pointed to the patience the club have shown in waiting for their expensively assembled but young side to come good, particularly Mudryk who finally broke his scoring duck nine months after jointing from Shakhtar Donetsk for £88million.
“The difference (tonight) is the result,” said the manager. “The performance was really good. First half I think we played really well, second half we controlled the game.
“I’m pleased for Mudryk, and for Armando. For Misha because he has scored his first goal in the Premier League and then for Armando, after a long period out he’s scored again. The competition is really good for the team.
“It’s about maturity, adaptation. We need to understand that young people need time, need to settle. Massive change for him when he arrived here. I think when you arrive in a team, it’s not easy to settle because there were too many young players that arrived in a team (that) was not solid.
“They need to add something to the team, to build something important. Always it’s difficult, but it’s about time and to have patience, to trust these guys and these young, talented players, and to build their confidence.
“It’s a massive job. It’s step by step. Sometimes people have not the patience, but for us it’s about being patient. Even when we were losing and when we didn’t win from the beginning of the season, we were calm and kept the belief.
“Now that we’ve won two games in a few days it’s (still) important to stay calm.”
It was the fourth game in a row in which Mudryk had started, having not been in the starting XI for any of Pochettino’s first five matches in charge.
He was withdrawn at half-time with what the manager said was an issue with his quad, but he is expected to be fit for Saturday’s trip to face Burnley.
“He played because he deserved it, and he showed in training that he deserved it,” said the manager. “He was really focused in training and had the confidence to go on the pitch and play.
“Normally it’s the player that needs to show us that we can trust in them.”
Fulham boss Marco Silva reflected on a game in which he felt his team lacked the required aggression as they fell to a third league defeat of the season.
“Disappointing result for us,” he said. “At certain moments, performance-wise as well. They started intense from the first moment, winning some individual challenges that gave the boost they needed.
“Our first half was not aggressive enough on and off the ball. We were sloppy in some moments. We did not bring the dynamic that we should. Even our first pressure didn’t work very well.”
Vincent Kompany is refusing to put any extra emphasis on Tuesday’s trip to face fellow Premier League new boys Luton as his side look to end their winless start to the season.
Kompany has spoken repeatedly about the tough start Burnley have faced – they have already suffered defeats against Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle, Tottenham, and Aston Villa – and many fans have been looking to the postponed trip to Kenilworth Road for a much-needed victory.
But the 37-year-old Kompany said it would do his side no good to treat this match differently to any other.
“It’s a mental exercise for me to really try and make no distinction,” he said. “It’s how I have been brought up, it’s how I know football.
“When you’re at the very top and you underestimate the small sides, you lose points. When you’re at the bottom and you overestimate the big sides…you don’t stand a chance.
“So I want to have consistency in every game, doing what it takes to get a result. I understand Luton is someone we faced last season so we’re looking forward to meeting our old friends again.”
This fixture was originally due to be played in the second week of the season but was postponed while Luton worked to upgrade their ground following promotion and Kompany said he felt the delay had benefited both sides in terms of their improvement since the campaign began.
But while Luton’s work was rewarded with a first win when they beat Everton 2-1 at Goodison Park on Saturday, Burnley have taken only one point from their opening six games.
Results are needed now, but Kompany said there had been no loss of confidence within his squad despite the tough start.
“What we did is we went into this with eyes wide open,” he said. “We did a lot of work on managing expectations.
“I can draw a little bit on my own experience. When you get to a certain level, year one or the first three or four months might not feel straightaway when you feel you belong in a place.
“But they’ll battle themselves through it and then they’ll see soon enough that a lot of these players, most of these players, are good enough to play this at this level and actually enjoy success at this level. But you know you’ve to learn the tough way sometimes.”
Kompany insisted he has not been losing any sleep himself, other than during a brief illness last week.
“No chance, on the contrary,” he said when asked if his own confidence had been dented. “I’ve seen enough to believe in the squad.
“But to the point as well, like I’ve said, I’m conscious that it’s not the words ‘I’m happy’. I’m not happy but I’ve seen enough in terms of habits and how these guys approach it to know that they’ll come out stronger from this. They’ll come out a good team.”
Lyle Foster is likely to go straight back into the side after serving a three-match ban for his late red card at Forest and could bring a much-needed boost to a Burnley side who are the lowest scorers in the league.
Foster had scored two in five for Burnley, also netting for South Africa, before his ban.
“I think he was on a trajectory where he showed good signs to be a good player in this league,” Kompany said.
“I think the guys who filled in did well, but you know when you have someone with momentum, you want to keep him as much as you can involved.
“Hopefully tomorrow we can have the Lyle that we had before the suspension and and then everybody knows he is a threat and he scores goals as well.”
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