The draw for the Europa League group stage has now been completed and Manchester United now know their three opponents.
Our initial reaction is that it could have been a lot harder. United will face Real Sociedad, Sheriff Tiraspol and Omonia.
That said, of course there are positive and negative aspects to the draw and no team can be taken lightly.
Manchester United Europa League draw: The positives
United should progress
United and Sociedad will be the red-hot favourites to get through their group, and rightly so.
The Europa League can provide trickier groups than this, and the competition is one of Erik ten Hag’s best chances to scoop silverware during his maiden season in charge.
As said above, United cannot take anyone lightly but they must fancy their chances of getting through here without too many undue problems.
Opportunities for youngsters
Ten Hag may well be looking at the competition as an opportunity for some of his younger players to get gametime.
If it was a harder group, that might not have been the case, but United should be able to make changes and get results in some of these games.
The group stage is so condensed that playing your best side three times a week regularly could have caught up with United.
That should not be necessary now, and it would be great to see some academy prospects get their chance to shine.
Manchester United Europa League draw: The Negative
Long midweek trips
United will need to go to Moldova and Cyrpus during the course of their Europa League campaign.
Those are journeys of over three and five hours respectively, during midweeks at a busy part of the season.
It could have been worse again, and there were probably more hostile atmospheres out there, but there were also more comfortable trips.
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