MANCHESTER UNITED will welcome 12 PER CENT of an entire town’s population for their Europa League clash on Thursday.
The Red Devils host Norwegian champions Bodo/Glimt in Ruben Amorim‘s first home game in charge.
The away side, who were beaten twice by Arsenal in 2022, are bringing 6,500 fans to the ground for the huge clash.
That is out of the town’s 53,000 population, meaning one eighth of everyone living there will be attending the match.
And Bodo/Glimt sporting director Havard Sakariassen is overcome by the magnitude of the occasion.
He said: “Personally, the 1990s were the defining years of my life because I was between 15 and 22. Manchester was the coolest place on earth for me because of music and the football team.
“So, for me, drawing United, it’s a cool thing. If you ask the 20-year-old Havard, that would be unreal to go to Old Trafford with Bodo/Glimt.
“Of course today I am working with this every day and we have been around the block for some years now, but still to go to Old Trafford is special for me.
“We have played many games in Europe but, for the Norwegian football fans, playing against English teams is really special.
“The game against Arsenal [in 2022] was really a big game for the club but also for the supporters. The Man United game is maybe even more special because of the history of United.”
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Bodo/Glimt won their first league title in 2020 and are set to clinch their fourth in five years on Sunday providing they beat relegated Lillestrom.
They will be underdogs against Man Utd – despite sitting one point above them in the Europa League table.
But they have earned some big wins in Europe in recent years, most notably their 6-1 thrashing of Jose Mourinho’s Roma in the Europa Conference League three years ago.
