11:00, 31 July 2017
| by Haylee Blease
The British band, who recently celebrated a number one album, will be at the Theatre of Dreams for a special pre-match performance that will see some of United’s footballing greats return to the field.
Band member Tristan Evans spoke of his pride at being involved in the event and said:
“My dad has always been a Manchester United fan so there was no doubt that I was going to be one too. My dad used to take me to as many matches as he could and my first one was Manchester United vs Roma when we won 7-1.”
He added: “Football and Manchester United was something my dad and I always bonded over. Scoring a number one album last week and now getting the chance to play at Old Trafford in the presence of Manchester’s legends - it’s been a lot of dreams come true!”
Ruud van Nistlerooy, Ji-sung Park and Wes Brown will return to the Manchester United Legends squad to join veterans Dwight Yorke, Denis Irwin and Ronny Johnsen as the team attempt to defend their 3-1 lead gained during an away leg at Camp Nou in June.
Fans can also look forward to welcoming Andrew Cole back to the Old Trafford dugout as he takes on the role of assistant manager to Bryan Robson. Other United favourites will also be stepping back out onto the hallowed turf, including Edwin van der Sar, Phil Neville and Louis Saha.
The Spanish side will be managed by José Mari Bakero and fans can look forward to welcoming Gaizka Mendieta, Éric Abidal, Miguel Angel Nadal, Gheorghe Popescu, Andoni Goikoetxea and Julio Salinas to the Theatre of Dreams.
Legends are Back 2017 follows the success of the 2013 and 2015 clashes against Real Madrid and Bayern Munich respectively, which jointly raised over £1.8 million for Manchester United Foundation. The Old Trafford event will also include various family activities outside the stadium.
The match will be shown live on MUTV in the UK and tickets are on sale now at
www.manutd.com/legendsareback . Prices start from £20 for adults and £5 for under-16s, with hospitality packages available from £125. All proceeds will go to Manchester United Foundation’s work across Greater Manchester.