Europa League draw: Manchester United, Liverpool and Tottenham await fate

Manchester United will try to win tournament, insists Michael Carrick

The Europa League trophy (GETTY IMAGES)

Michael Carrick insisted Manchester United would be seeking to win the Europa League, rather than seeing it as an inconvenience after the disappointment of falling into it from the Champions League.

The draw for Europe’s second-string competition is made in Switzerland at midday on Monday with United joining Liverpool, Tottenham and Gary Neville’s Valencia in the last 32.

All three English clubs are seeded, but Valencia are not. Louis van Gaal will, though, be spared the prospect of facing their in-form former striker Javier Hernandez as Bayer Leverkusen are seeded.

Borussia Dortmund, Shakhtar Donetsk, Sevilla and Fiorentina are the most dangerous of the unseeded teams.

“To be out of the Champions League is a big blow for us – you can’t deny that,” said Carrick. “That’s obvious for everyone to see so it’s a tough one to take. Once you’re out you’ve got to deal with it and we’re in the Europa League so when that comes around we’ll be giving everything to win that competition.”

United have won the European Cup, Champions League and the now-defunct European Cup-Winners’ Cup, but never lifted the Europa League or its predecessors, the Uefa Cup and Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.