Juan Mata has warned his Manchester United teammates they cannot afford to make many mistakes in their Europa League knockout campaign.
United take on Club Brugge on Thursday night, looking to progress in the competition that could yet provide their best route to qualification for next season's Champions League.
After topping their Europa League group, which contained AZ Alkmaar, Astana and Partizan Belgrade, United now take on the Belgian outfit over two legs in a last-32 contest.
And Mata has called for concentration from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's squad as he spoke to MUTV before the trip to Bruges.
“I think the key is not to make too many mistakes, because a very cheap goal can cost you in the competition," said the 31-year-old.
“So it’s about being focused on what you have to do, to play at your best level and to try to grow into the competition. It’s different than the Premier League, you can lose a game but you still have a chance to come back and win more points.
“In the Europa League, if you have a bad day you can be out of the competition, so you have to be really 100 per cent focused in every game.”
Mata hasn't been a regular in the United side under Solskjaer, but his experience has been vital in the cup competitions. He scored one and laid on two assists in the 4-0 victory over Alkmaar in the final group game.
And as a survivor of United's two previous games against Club Brugge — in a 2015 Champions League qualifier that they won 7-1 over two legs — Mata knows what it takes to go through to succeed in European knockout rounds.
He added: “They’re a good Belgian team and I remember when they played in the Champions League, so they’re a team that has good experience in European competitions and they won’t be afraid of playing against us.
“We’ll try to go through and we’ll remember the good memories we have from the Europa League and Stockholm in the final against Ajax when we won [in 2017]. It’s a really nice competition to win.”
