Erik ten Hag aims cheeky dig at Arsenal ahead of Man United vs Real Madrid

Erik ten Hag has aimed a cheeky dig at Arsenal ahead of Manchester United’s clash against Real Madrid.

United won 2-0 against Mikel Arteta’s side last week in their third pre-season game of the summer.

Beforehand, they had victories against both Leeds United and Lyon and since then a 10-men youthful side were beat by Wrexham.

The next test ahead of the new Premier League season is that of Real Madrid, who start their English star Jude Bellingham in the midfield.

It will be a tough encounter for Ten Hag’s men, who looked confident and competitive against The Gunners.

However, the Dutch boss has explained that the standards will need to improve against a team like Madrid, suggesting that Arsenal are not quite there despite their title challenge last term.

“I really hope that we can make the next step,” he told MUTV ahead of the game. “Already against Arsenal we were at quite good levels, but if you want to compete against Real Madrid you need to be at even higher levels.”

Ten Hag’s words will undoubtedly get on the nerves of Arsenal supporters, not for the first time however.

The United boss riled up the north London fanbase, as well as Arteta, last term when he suggested that they did not get many injuries during the campaign. Ironically, William Saliba fell to injury shortly afterwards and Arsenal’s title slip started.

The rivalry between the clubs has reignited since both have begun to improve under their respective coaches.

United will travel to The Emirates for their fourth game of next season’s Premier League. Last term The Red were undone by a 90th minute dagger from Eddie Nketiah.