Seven Manchester United players who started vs Barcelona in 2019 are still at club

Perhaps one of the biggest feathers in Erik ten Hag's cap at Manchester United is the improvement of players who looked to have stagnated.

The Dutchman has overseen more than £200million of expenditure since he arrived from Ajax, but far from his tenure being one of vast overhaul, it has been a case of improving what he had just as much as adding to it. On Thursday, his United side host Barcelona in the second leg of their Europa League knockout tie, having come back from Camp Nou last week with honours even at 2-2.

Of the likely 11 that will take to the Old Trafford turf on Thursday evening, only three - Lisandro Martinez, Casemiro and Marcel Sabitzer - will be Ten Hag signings. But what is more surprising is the likelihood that five will have welcomed the Blaugrana to M16 four years ago.

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That evening in April 2019 saw Luke Shaw deflect a Luis Suarez header into his own net against a Barcelona outfit that dominated and reduced the home side to 33 per cent possession and zero shots on target. The return leg saw Ernesto Valverde's side cruise to a 3-0 win on the night and a four-goal aggregate victory.

In that first leg at Old Trafford, Shaw was joined by David de Gea, Victor Lindelof, Fred, Scott McTominay, Diogo Dalot and Marcus Rashford, with five of those seven expected to return to the starting line-up on Thursday as a result of their marked improvements under Ten Hag.

Rashford in particular has seen his fortunes transformed after being told to 'show his teeth' by the Dutchman the first time they met, an order for the striker to smile more and enjoy his football. The England international would score just 13 goals for United in the 2018/2019