2017 has been a cracking year for 'Legends' matches and testimonials, as we have seen Henrik Larsson bag a first-half hat-trick on his return to Glasgow, Jamie Carragher wipe out Gary Neville at Michael Carrick's testimonial, Robbie Keane back playing and scoring with Berbatov, and even Roberto Carlos giving us a first-person view of a free-kick goal.
The next 'Legends' match of the summer takes place in the Camp Nou of Barcelona, as Manchester United are sending a team out before they host the 'return leg' at Old Trafford in early September.
As is usually the case as injuries and dropouts are expected and understandable, the squads have been confirmed the day before the fixture, and there are some fantastic names involved.
They are, however, mostly on the Barcelona side.
Have a look at some of the names lining out in blue and red tomorrow:
Jesus Angoy, Francisco Guzman; Patrik Andersson, Juliano Belletti, Lluis Carerras, Juan Carlos, Frederic Dehu, Edmilson, Miguel Angel Nadal; Guillermo Amor, Edgar Davids, Andoni Goikoetxea, Ludovic Giuly, Gaizka Mendieta, Gica Popescu, Simao Sabrosa; Quique Estebaranz, Santiago Ezquerro, Patrick Kluivert, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho, Julio Salinas.
Straight away Belletti, Edmilson, Rafa Nadal's uncle, Davids, Giuly, Mendiera, and Kluivert stand out, but then you notice that Rivaldo and Ronaldinho are going to show up. The presence of the two Brazilian legends alone make it worth watching.
Without wanting to sound too disrespectful, the side United are sending over looks less... Everything, really.
Raimond van der Gouw, Kevin Pilkington; Clayton Blackmore, Wes Brown, Ronny Johnsen, Lee Martin, Mikael Silvestre; Russell Beardsmore, Jesper Blomqvist, Bojan Djordjic, Ji-sung Park, Karel Poborsky, Alan Smith, Ben Thornley; Louis Saha, Danny Webber, Dwight Yorke.
Big bad Wesley Brown, Ji-Sung Park, Alan Smith, and Dwight York aside, there are very few people that could be classed as legends there, but Lee Martin made one senior appearance at the club in four years, while Danny Webber made none.
Again, this is a friendly game for a good cause and we appreciate these guys for stepping up and making the game happen, but on paper it looks like they are in for a tanking.
Denis Irwin is expected to be involved for the reverse fixture in September, which isntantly makes the squad 100% more solid, but in Barcelona on Friday night Yorkey and Smudge are going to have their work cut out for them.
Then again, as the saying goes*, legends matches are not won on paper. The match will be on MUTV from 7pm on Friday.
*not actually a saying.
