Erik ten Hag is using Barcelona template to finish Manchester United's rebuild

The Ryanair flight to Barcelona was the rowdiest this correspondent has experienced for a European away. It is half-term in Greater Manchester this week and some of the lads barely looked out of school.

"Taking over Barcelona," a few sang after their boarding passes were scanned. They were not born when that chant was first hollered on Las Ramblas in 1999.

An air stewardess pleaded for silence in vain. A young child was undeterred by the boisterousness and expletives. The average age of the assembled United supporters had to have been the mid-20s at the oldest, an impressionable age.

Also read: How United should line up vs Barcelona in Europa League fixture

This was on Tuesday, two days before tonight's match. Tens of thousands of Mancunians descended on Catalonia In late May for the zenith of Sir Alex Ferguson's epoch and, 24 years later, thousands lurk around every plaza and the Gaudi landmarks. An estimated 8,000 United fans are travelling to Barcelona this week.

United's last five European campaigns have ended against Spanish opposition and, including the December friendlies with Cadiz and Real Betis, this is the fifth Spanish city they have played in within the last year.

The last time a United manager held court at Camp Nou it was the man who scored their most famous - and last - goal at the stadium and Diogo Dalot. The incumbent United manager was flanked by another full-back in Luke Shaw, destined to start at centre-back.

Shaw will line up in the sensory-like tunnel of Camp Nou for the first time, having withdrawn through injury on United's last appearance in 2019. He played at centre-back for the first ever time in the first leg four years ago and under Ten Hag he has flourished in a defensive duo, keeping