Over the next few days, Manchester United will have two tasks: get over the 7-0 drubbing against Liverpool and prepare to face Real Betis in the Europa League.
The two go hand in hand, as the failure to do the former could directly affect the result of the upcoming fixture, and that’s something Erik ten Hag will want to avoid.
One of the men they will be facing is Andrés Guardado, who has become a regular fixture at the La Liga side over the years.
Speaking ahead of the game, the Mexico international was asked about the game against Manchester United, which the entire squad is looking forward to.
Unlike their opponents, Betis go into the game on something of a high, having managed to draw 0-0 at home against Real Madrid.
Just like in that game, the club will have to be vigilant, he said to Marca: “Make very few mistakes. They are big teams and when you play against them, you have to make few mistakes, and the perfect thing is to be very successful up front, that you make the most of opportunities that you can create. But the squad, when the fixture came out, did not feel a feeling of ‘uff, it’s Manchester’.
“Yes, we had the most difficult one, but we all feel it as a challenge that excites us a lot, we all really want to go play there. In the end, sooner or later, you were going to find rivals like that in a high-level Europa League. If we want to win it, we have to go through and play against them. It’s a very nice challenge, very exciting and I have no doubts that we will be up to it. Hopefully we can keep moving forward.”
The Mexican then added about Manchester United: “We trust in our chances, we trust in what we have, respecting and knowing that we have a monster like Manchester United in front of us, especially at the moment they are going through now, maybe at the beginning of the season, they were not so good, but we have to face the best Manchester of the last two years and we are going to fight them like against any other rival.”
The 36-year-old has made 22 appearances this season for the La Liga side, scoring one goal and providing one assist in the process.
