Manchester United may have never played a competitive fixture against Real Betis in the 115 years since they were founded by a group of medical students preparing for a military career, but that does not mean they are going into battle blind before their Europa League round of 16 tie.
Far from it, in fact. United faced off against the side from Seville less than three months ago for a mid-season friendly.
That match was rather dwarfed by the day's earlier events when Morocco became the first African nation to reach the World Cup semi-finals after knocking Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal out of the competition. But it now turns out the otherwise low-key affair being played just 80 miles from 'the stripe' that separates Spain from their Iberian neighbours has taken on an altogether different meaning.
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The hosts won the exhibition match 1-0 courtesy of a goal from 2018 World Cup winner Nabil Fekir, but Betis now need to look elsewhere for their goals across these two legs. The attacking midfielder, who was a clean medical away signing for Liverpool five years ago, will miss the remainder of the season after undergoing knee surgery last month on an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
While Fekir will not be there to apply the final touch at Old Trafford on Thursday, there are still lessons to learn from that goal. Namely, that it is imperative to stay switched on during set-piece situations as the concession arose from a creatively choreographed routine.
The France international played a wide free-kick short to a teammate before exchanging a one-two down the right-hand side, which drew the one man in the wall, Alejandro Garnacho, towards the player in possession. Upon receiving it, a first-time pass was soon played to the edge of the box which was then ingeniously dummied by Luiz Henrique for Borja Iglesias to play the untracked runner, Fekir, through on goal with space to shoot in the penalty area.
Garnacho was guilty of being caught out by the goalscorer's blindside run, which would have been all the more frustrating for Ten Hag after the manager made a point of calling out his side for "sleeping" when conceding from a similar free-kick situation in the previous friendly against Cadiz.
As well as the teenager, fellow first-team players David de Gea, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Victor Lindelof, Scott McTominay, Anthony Elanga and Anthony Martial all started the match. It will be interesting how many of them are called upon this time around in the Europa League due to their recent experience of playing against Betis.
De Gea will no doubt start in goal, and it would not be a surprise to see Wan-Bissaka come into the defence after Diogo Dalot did not impress during the 7-0 thumping by Liverpool at Anfield. Garnacho, too, could be in line for a start and will have fond memories of playing against their opponents in green and white as, despite the defensive lapse, the winger was United's brightest outfielder in his hour of play last December.
The Madrid-born Argentina youth international has also already shown what he can do against Spanish opposition in this season's competition, scoring the only goal of the final group stage game versus Real Sociedad. Garnacho should now be entrusted by Ten Hag to go into battle against Betis again.
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