Inside the Manchester United supporters' club where membership is booming - despite sacking of national hero

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Without the efforts of Scandinavian players, the modern history of Manchester United might be very different. It was a Danish defender, John Sivebæk, who scored the first goal of Sir Alex Ferguson's reign at the club, in a team that also featured the talents of Danish winger Jesper Olsen as well.

Scandinavians also played a key role on the most famous night in the club's history, the 1999 Champions League final, as Swede Jesper Blomqvist, Danish shot-stopper Peter Schmeichel and Norwegian defender Ronny Johnsen started the match at the Nou Camp, before a certain Ole Gunnar Solskjaer stole the show with his iconic winning goal. READ MORE: Where United stand in the transfer window It is this deep-rooted relationship that United will look to celebrate this weekend as Erik ten Hag's side travel to Norway for their dress rehearsal ahead of the Premier League opener, and will be looking for revenge against an Atletico Madrid side that knocked them out of the Champions League last season.

It looks set to be United's toughest test of the summer so far, and the plan is for Ten Hag to treat the match as an opportunity to settle on his strongest side ahead of the Brighton match, with the second string given the chance to catch his eye against Rayo Vallecano a day later.

The match will mark United's third trip to Norway in the last five years, following a clash with Valerenga in 2017 and Kristiansund in 2019, the latter coming as part of Solskjaer's first pre-season in charge of the club.