Revealed: The club United fans want from Pot One
Just a few days remain until we'll learn Manchester United's group-stage opponents in this season's Champions League. And fans have already revealed the club they'd most like us to face!
The Reds will be seeded in Pot Two for Thursday's draw in Istanbul (17:00 BST), which means the three teams we'll come up against will be drawn from Pots One, Three and Four.
And while we'll have to wait until the conclusion of the third qualifying round on Wednesday to know the full complement of clubs that will be taking part, we already know the eight teams that make up Pot One.
We cannot meet English sides Chelsea and Manchester City at this stage of the competition, so that leaves six other possibilities: Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich, Lille, Internazionale, Sporting Club and Villarreal.
But who do United fans prefer?
You can still vote in our poll but, at the time of writing, the answer is Sporting Club. The Lisbon-based Portuguese outfit are the reigning champions in their own country, and a club many Reds have a soft spot for. After all, they provided United with both Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes! A solid 29 per cent of voters in our Official App and across ManUtd.com would like to see Bruno reunited with his former team-mates.
In second place are Lille, a club we last met in the 2006/07 Champions League. Les Dogues pipped Paris Saint-Germain to the French title last term, and 26 per cent of you want to see us journey to northern France. In third are Villarreal (19 per cent), the team that agonisingly edged us in last season's Europa League final via a dramatic penalty shoot-out.
Those three are well clear of the other three options in our poll, who are the respective champions of arguably Europe's strongest top-flights beyond the Premier League: Spain, Italy and Germany.
Only five per cent of fans want to see us take on Atletico Madrid for the first time in Champions League history, and is it any wonder? Diego Simeone's side are renowned for their incredibly committed and disciplined style, and are never easy to beat.
Just nine per cent would like to see us meet Internazionale, the Italian champions. The Nerazzurri have lost star striker – and former Red – Romelu Lukaku to Chelsea, and title-winning manager Antonio Conte is no longer at the helm, but they are stalwarts of European football, and a trip to the San Siro is never straightforward.
The final opponent we could face is Bayern Munich. The Germans are six-time winners of this competition and have triumphed in the Bundesliga for nine consecutive seasons, but United fans undoubtedly harbour some warm feelings towards the Bavarians. They were, of course, our opponents in the climactic game of the Treble season – the 1998/99 Champions League final – and have been extremely supportive to our club and its fans over the years, with their city the site of the 1958 Munich Air Disaster.
Our poll is still open, so please have your say before Thursday's draw, and don't forget to keep your eyes on ManUtd.com and our Official App for reaction to Wednesday night's results.
At that point, we'll know the full list of clubs United could face over the next few months.
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