Erik ten Hag jokes that he will consult Robin van Persie if Man United draw Feyenoord

Erik ten Hag joked that he would pick the brains of Robin van Persie if Manchester United win Feyenoord in Friday’s Europa League round of 16 draw.

United defeated Barcelona 2-1 on Thursday night (4-3 on aggregate) to advance beyond the play-off stage and into the knockout stage of the tournament proper, thanks to goals from Fred and Antony in The second half.

Barcelona had gone ahead of the break due to a Robert Lewandowski penalty.

Clearly in a jovial mood during his post-field interview with bt Sport, Ten Hag joked with his compatriot Van Persie about the possibility of drawing Feyenoord. The former Arsenal and United striker began his career with the Dutch side and is now the club’s youth academy manager.

I think Erik wants to play anyone. [in the next round]except one team,’ Van Persie joked.

Erik ten Hag and Robin van Persie shared a joke about Man United’s potential round of 16 opponent

Antony’s goal ensured United progressed from the play-offs to the knockout rounds proper.

Immediately realizing who Van Persie was referring to, Ten Hag made a loud bang with his microphone before laughing at the joke.

He then added: “If we draw Feyenoord, I know who to go to for all the information!”

“I hope so,” Van Persie added.

A Rotterdam native, Van Persie began his career with Feyenoord before joining Arsenal in 2004.

Van Persie spent eight years with the Gunners before leaving for United under difficult circumstances in 2012, citing his desire to win football’s biggest awards. He won the Premier League in his first season with the club.

Since then, he has spent time at United studying Ten Hag and his staff as he continues his coaching development.

Meanwhile, Ten Hag admitted that the team has made leaps and bounds in terms of stamina this season.

The start of his reign was marked by two difficult defeats, at home to Brighton and then away at Brentford, cited as the nadir of the post-Ferguson era.

Ten Hag praised the personalities of his team as decisive in turning the club around

Raphael Varane -pointed out by his boss- has formed an intelligent couple with Lisandro Martínez

Owen Hargreaves told him that his side could now deal with adversity in a way that it hadn’t before, Ten Hag nodded and pointed to the ‘personalities’ within his squad as the reason for that.

Yes, I think we have great personalities in the team, like Rapha (Raphael Varane) and Licha Martínez. They’re coming forward,’ he said.

‘I said it before, Antonio or Garnacho, they are not afraid of anyone, we have more, Bruno too, Casemiro. We have some great players and personalities and even when you have setbacks they keep going. They go on and are resilient. They want to get the result and if you believe in that, even when you concede a cheap penalty, you have to keep going.

“You can turn this game around, but you have to work hard and when you win a game like this, after being down 1-0, it’s a good way to motivate yourself for the season.”