Why Do Man U struggle vs Spanish teams?

Not going to look back on history, but talking about recent few years. Bilbao did so well vs Man U but they struggled vs a lot of other teams in Spain. No need to mention Barca who raped Man U twice. Now I think ppl are saying they will struggle vs Real Soc as well. Why is it exactly?

I think its because under SAF they always emphasized hard work, cohesion and professionalism over tactical flexibility, this is great for the league because it gives you alot of consistency, but its not that great for two legged ties.

The played 4-4-2 for a big chunk of SAFs days, Spanish teams are influenced by Barcelona and are used to playing a more fluid brand of football. The Barcelona stompings are proof enough.

Also, smaller teams would love to win against United and give it their absolute best, even at the expense of fitness issues, which was what happened against Bilbao.

Current manchester is lot weaker than the one that won the champions league.

You should consider the fact of united's midfield against say 2008 when the midfield had scholes and Ronaldo, while also having tevez and Rooney in attack

They've won 11, drawn 18 and lost 16 VS Spanish oppositions and I believe have one 3 out of 15 recent meetings. However I think chino highlighted very nicely. Fergie always wants to beat teams playing his way despite how good the opposing teams are. He tries to get possession tries to build up attacks and also likes counter attacking.

Thx guys and yes chinomaster's explanation looks spot on. This goes to explain the different between the league and Europe games too. Football is so interesting that in many ways there is always a counter to even the best teams and the battle never stops with tactics, etc

Moving on from this, there must have been discussions about this b4, what do u all think also about should Fergie have won more CL or done better in Europe over the years? Im not sure if it shows his limit in Europe that MAn U many consider should have done more in Europe. Obviously he knows the league and is the king of it, but not for Europe.

BarcaLearning wrote:Thx guys and yes chinomaster's explanation looks spot on. This goes to explain the different between the league and Europe games too. Football is so interesting that in many ways there is always a counter to even the best teams and the battle never stops with tactics, etc

Moving on from this, there must have been discussions about this b4, what do u all think also about should Fergie have won more CL or done better in Europe over the years? Im not sure if it shows his limit in Europe that MAn U many consider should have done more in Europe. Obviously he knows the league and is the king of it, but not for Europe.

I think he has done pretty well in Europe. His record been not good enough is a myth . He has reached the semi-finals 7 times and the finals 4 times ( 2 wins and 2L against the Great Barca ). That's 7 good/great years in CL out of 22. It's like having a great run in CL every 3 years. Don't forget that during the first years Man U was not (that) great.

Well most of the Spanish teams they've struggled with play extremely technical fast football that United can't seem to cope with as most of their players aren't exactly work horses.They also play with two men in CentralMidfield(Carrick and Cleverley)While most spanish teams have more than two central midfielders and almost all players participate in the build up.

Styles make fights

well, both Barca and Bilbao were playing amazing back than... As for Real Madrid, ask that turkish referee