2 min: Sut, Steaua’s captain, snarls into a couple of early challenges in midfield. Every time there is a home touch on the ball, the crowd go wild. The atmosphere is electric!

Peeeeeeep!

The teams are out. Steaua are in their famous blue and red. Manchester United are in their white away kit. It’s a sell-out in Bucharest, around 55,000 people packed into the National Arena. A huge tifo of Helmuth Duckadam is unveiled by the home fans: the goalkeeper who saved all four penalties in Steaua’s victorious 1986 European Cup final died in December.

“Good to see former Spurs player Vlad Chiriches among the home side’s subs,” emails Peter Oh. “When he was at Tottenham, United had Javier Chicharito Hernandez, which inspired me to call the Romanian defender Chichiriches”.

The Steaua Stadium, the Romanian’s normal stadium, was built in 2021 and cost €91m, less than one Antony. However, for European games, Steaua are permitted to play at the National Arena in Bucharest so that is tonight’s venue. Manchester United can expect a warm welcome from the Ultras situated behind the goal.

If you’re wondering why the official name of tonight’s hosts is FCSB, this is helpful guide (even if it is from 2014).

The importance of the Europa League to Manchester United, particularly with their league campaign already up in flames, cannot be overstated. This remains their only route back into the Champions League for next season. We’re a long way from the final but winning the Europa League would certainly save Amorim’s season with the prize of a major trophy and top-tier European qualification.

That’s very nearly a first choice XI for Manchester United. The build-up to this match obviously charted the storied history of this competition and the key outcomes for this potentially decisive clash the future of Marcus Rashford.

The teams!

Preamble