MANCHESTER UNITED and Barcelona will be no strangers when they take each other on in the Europa League.
The Reds Devils will play the La Liga giants in February next year in the tournament’s preliminary round.
The two clubs have locked horns on 13 occasions, with United only winning three of them.
The pair have enjoyed having some of the best players to ever grace the game, and at times, these players have played for both.
Nine players have played for both clubs with varying levels of success.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
The Swedish striker played for Barcelona between 2009 and 2011 but struggled to hit his best form and returned to Serie A.
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He later joined United in 2016 following his exit from PSG and enjoyed a successful spell at Old Trafford as he won the Europa League and EFL Cup.
Gerard Pique
The recently retired long-standing Barcelona defender spent four years at Old Trafford between 2004 and 2008 in which he made 12 appearances in the Premier League.
Pique returned to Barcelona and would go on to win pretty much everything possible in his career at the domestic and international levels.
Alexis Sanchez
The Chilean was a star in Catalonia during his three-year stint between 2011 and 2014 and got even better when he moved to the Premier League.
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However for United fans this was to Arsenal and when he did eventually move to their club, he was a tremendous failure for two years.
Memphis Depay
Another winger that failed to cut the cloth at United, the dutchman was signed as one of the most promising youngsters in Europe from PSV but failed to consistently perform.
Depay would rebuild his reputation in France with Lyon before moving to Barcelona on a free transfer in 2021.
He has done well at the Nou Camp but has not become a regular starter under manager Xavi.
Laurent Blanc
The former France defender spent a single season at Barcelona in 1996 and would later move to Manchester United in the final years of his career.
Blanc spent two seasons with the Red Devils between 2001 and 2003 before retiring from playing.
Victor Valdes
The Spanish shot-stopper is a legendary figure at the Nou Camp as he won everything possible as well as appearing over 500 times for the club.
He joined United in 2015 after his contract expired, but failed to dislodge David De Gea in goal and only played twice in the Premier League before leaving the club in 2016.
Henrik Larsson
Another Swedish striker, Larsson had a mixed spell at Barcelona as he only scored 13 La Liga goals in 40 appearances and would leave the club to rejoin Swedish side Helsingborg.
He would then move to the Red Devils on loan in January 2007, a spell in which he would score three times in 13 appearances in all competitions.
Jordi Cruyff
The former attacking midfielder is the son of iconic player Johan Cruyff and spent two years with Barcelona between 1994 and 1996.
He then left the club for Old Trafford where he would spend the next three years of his career before a loan spell to Celta Vigo in 1999.
Mark Hughes
The current Bradford City manager spent two years away from Manchester United between 1986 and 1988, the first was at Barcelona and then the second was a loan spell at Bayern Munich.
He returned to United in 1988 and would go on to play there for seven more years before leaving for Chelsea.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
