Ryan Giggs has maintained that he is not scared of European champions Barcelona, and believes Manchester United can beat the Spaniards should they face each other again this season.

Pep Guardiola's side have beaten the Old Trafford outfit in the Champions League final in two of the last three seasons, but despite this the Welshman is feeling upbeat.

"It's difficult, as they're such a good team, but it's not impossible. Teams have beaten them, and we beat them three years ago when they were not too different back then," he told MUTV.

"What they've got now is more experience and confidence from winning things that they didn't have back then. We've got to overcome that if we come up against them again. We'll be confident we can beat them if we do.

"We've got to learn from our mistakes and get better. I'm sure we can, with the players we have here and the hunger to win things."

Barcelona beat United 3-1 in the final at Wembley last season, but Giggs has put the result into perspective given The Reds' success domestically.

"I think everyone was disappointed about the Champions League final. The manager did a great job putting things into perspective as United fans wanted the 19th title so much.

"There are people who grew up, similar to myself, and who are older, who thought we'd never surpass Liverpool. So it was a mixture of the disappointment of the Champions League final but also savouring what was a great achievement in being able to catch Liverpool and overtake them in such a short space of time.

"Everyone was gutted about the Barcelona game, but it is a great achievement to surpass a record that, 20 years ago, no-one would ever have foreseen," he concluded.

Giggs is in line for a start against Benfica at the Estadio da Luz on Wednesday night, as United start their Champions League group stages with an away fixture in Portugal.

[divider]

Fancy a Premier League Box Experience? Click on banner below to find out more

[divider]