Former Manchester United captain Gary Neville has claimed that failure in Europe can help the current crop of young players.

The Red Devils, who were knocked out of the Champions League group stages in December, are facing Europa League elimination after Thursday's 3-2 first-leg defeat at home to Athletic Bilbao.

Despite a disappointing campaign in Europe, Neville believes that United's youngsters will learn valuable lessons.

"It's an underachievement when you get to three finals in four years, then don't get past the group stage, but these are great experiences for the young lads," he said.

"The only way you learn in European football is by playing and getting to the point where you start to absorb lessons. The manager knows he's got talented young players who are going to be at United for a number of years.

"The younger players in our squad will take a lot out of this season."

Sir Alex Ferguson's side travel to Spain for the second leg of their last-16 tie on Thursday.