Erik ten Hag matchday Q and A ahead of Man Utd v Newcastle 26 February 2023

Erik, that was a really special night against Barcelona. Where does that rank in special European nights that you have experienced? 
“It’s a difficult question. I have so many highlights, but definitely [the Barcelona match was] a highlight. We won the game but in the end it is about winning trophies, so it is on the road – hopefully – to silverware. But when you beat Barcelona, it is one of the best teams in Europe, eight points ahead of Real Madrid and we have seen already Madrid play against Liverpool this week, so then you know if you beat [Barcelona], you have done a really good job.” 

It was a brilliant result and your reward for that is another Spanish team in Real Betis. What are your initial thoughts on playing Betis?
“I just heard and we played them in the pre-season after the winter break, and you know what you get from Spanish football. We faced it yesterday. It is a playing team, a skilful team, so we will have to play our best. We also played Real Sociedad this season and so we know, only when you play your best, you have a chance to survive and to get into the next round. So, we will go deeper when we face them. First we have to put the energy and the focus into the next games, and games [after that], because first we have the Carabao Cup, the FA Cup and then the Premier League.”