IT WAS TEN years ago when Manchester United last were last forced to play a Champions League qualifier.
On that occasion, they faced Hungarian side Debrecen over two legs and racked up a 6-0 aggregate win.
The first game saw Wayne Rooney scored once and set up Ruud van Nistelrooy and Cristiano Ronaldo too in what was a comfortable victory at Old Trafford.
The clash was notable for being the first time the Glazer family were present at the stadium since they gained control of the club.
A fortnight later, there was more of the same as United eased through the return fixture though the goalscorers were a little unusual as Gabriel Heinze grabbed two with Kieran Richardson also getting on the score-sheet.
Here’s the United side that took to the field that night:
Gary Neville was injured after only 16 minutes and was replaced by Richardson, who later was forced off himself.
Some fringe players got a run-out that night – namely Phil Bardsley and Liam Miller while a certain Gerard Pique was on the United bench alongside Tim Howard, Ji-sung Park and the rested Rooney.
But, it was about as good as it got for United in Europe that season. They endured an awful group stage, losing to Lille and Benfica and winning just one of their six games to finish bottom of the group.
Why always him. He’s some Craic that fella