A Manchester United legends side brushed Barcelona's legends aside on Friday evening as they came out comfortable 3-1 winners in the first instalment of the special 'Legends Are Back' event at Camp Nou.

The two-legged fixture has been put on to support the Manchester United Foundation's terrific work across Greater Manchester helping young people change their lives for the better and the communities in which they live.

The star-studded home line-up included names such as Patrick Kluivert, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho who surprisingly failed to breach United's back three of Wes Brown, Ronny Johnsen and Mikaël Silvestre until the 90th minute when Frederic Dehu slotted home a consolation goal from close range.

Blomqvist, Poborský and Yorke in the goals

The Reds went 1-0 up on 14 minutes as Karel Poborský raced towards the touchline and put the ball on a plate for Jesper Blomqvist who's shot was blocked on the line by 'The Beast' Miguel Ángel Nadal, but the danger wasn't cleared and the Swedish midfielder prodded in at the second time of asking.

Poborský started the move for the first and bagged the second himself - with help from a horrid deflection leaving Jesús Angoy with no chance in between the sticks - after Park Ji-Sung burst down the right flank and cut the ball back with precision like he's done so many times before.

Dwight Yorke rolled back the years and scored the best goal of the match with just over 10 minutes to go, firing a fierce effort in off the post from outside of the penalty area following good build-up play from Danny Webber and Mikaël Silvestre, which all but secured the win for United.

Ronaldinho named Man of the Match

Several of the legends who took the field managed to prove that they still had 'it', with Barca's Ronaldinho conducting proceedings by showcasing electrifying skills and trickery throughout the course of the whole 90 minutes which earned him the Man of the Match award.

The Brazilian sensation looked determined to make every single pass a no-look one while combining brilliantly with his international counterpart Rivaldo, and both men would've got a few goals between them if it wasn't for strong goalkeeping performances from Raimond van der Gouw and Kevin Pilkington.

The second leg will be played at Old Trafford on Saturday 2nd September 2017 where even more greats from both famous clubs will grace the turf for a brilliant cause.

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Alex Turk
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