Man Utd’s Rosenborg good omen noticed Liverpool trio overwhelmed earlier than first Premier League title

Manchester United face Rosenborg in a pre-season friendly and Michael Carrick will hope a previous result against the Norwegian outfit can be replicated as a good omen for the season ahead.

The Red Devils travel to the Lerkendal Stadion in Trondheim on Friday evening to kick on their pre-season work after a youthful side was defeated by Wrexham on Saturday, with the majority of the club’s first team players on a belated holiday, following their World Cup involvement.

United have never played Rosenborg in an official match before, but have previously met in a series of friendlies including a notable encounter in 1992 as the Sir Alex Ferguson era was beginning to blossom at Old Trafford.

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Goals from Paul Ince, Brian McClair and Denis Irwin cancelled out strikes from Karl-Petter Loken and Bent Skammelsrud and saw the legendary Scottish manager’s side win 3-2, just weeks before starting their victorious first Premier League title campaign.

Old Trafford had not seen a league title in 26 years since Sir Matt Busby’s First Division-winning side of 1966-67, spearheaded by the Holy Trinity of Sir Bobby Charlton, George Best and Denis Law.

And the formation of the Premiership gave the club a fresh start after missing out on winning the First Division again after finishing second in 1992 behind bitter rivals Leeds United.

United had won the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1991, but fans were desperate for domestic success and to end Liverpool’s dominance of British football.

Looking to start the season off well, United gave themselves a significant test by taking on the Norwegian champions, and the side who would dominate the Eliteserien by winning 16 titles in 19 years, including 13 consecutive crowns.

‘Troillongan’, meaning ‘The Troll Children’ or ‘The Troll Kids’, also had three future Liverpool players in their ranks, who got an early taste of what it’s like to lose against United.

Stig Inge Bjornebye was signed by Graeme Souness just weeks after the clash against United.

A future World Cup legend with Norway, the flying full-back was an assist-machine at Anfield, playing 184 times between 1992 and 2000 and making the PFA Team of the Year in 1996-97, before joining Blackburn Rovers.

Defender Bjorn Tore Kvarme would fare less well on these shores. He signed for Liverpool on a free transfer under Roy Evans in January 1997, but the right-back would spend just two unimpressive years at Anfield.

Meanwhile, Oyvind Leonhardsen joined Liverpool in 1997 after impressing as a goalscoring midfielder for Wimbledon, having moved to the Crazy Gang in 1994 from Rosenborg.

Signed for £3.5million, he was a regular under Roy Evans, but the flop fell out of favour under Gerard Houllier, leaving to join Tottenham in 1999, before going on to play for Aston Villa.

Rosenborg were managed by the late Nils Arne Eggen who died in 2022 as the most successful Norwegian coach of all time, with 15 league title and six cups, 14 of those top flight titles won at Rosenborg.

That winning mentality must have rubbed off on United as their three scorers on the day; Ince, McClair and Irwin, all played crucial roles in United winning the league that following May.

Ince played 41 times in the middle of midfield, with McClair played 41 times up front and ending the season as the club’s joint-second top scorer in the league with nine, only behind Mark Hughes’ 15, while Irwin played 40 times in the 42-game league campaign.

The trio went on to win 13 Premier League titles between them during their time at Old Trafford and laid the bedrock of the team that would go on to dominate English football in the 90s and 2000s.

United had first played Rosenborg in 1977, winning 8-0 just weeks before the Charity Shield at Wembley was shared with Liverpool following a goalless draw at the old Wembley.

Carrick enjoyed a successful caretaker spell in charge of United but the pressure will be ramped up tenfold this season, with the former Red Devils midfielder leading the club into their 14th season without a league title.

However, playing Rosenborg hasn’t always brought good memories for the Reds as Erik ten Hag found out in 2024. Goalkeeper Radek Vitek, who spent last season on loan in the Championship with Bristol City, where he scooped their club end of season awards, was the star performer on a day where United could have been beaten more heavily.

United fielded a young side due to the Euros being on in the same summer, but it worked out the polar opposite for Ten Hag than Fergie, as the Dutchman was sacked just three months later.

Carrick will again be impacted by the World Cup in the number of first-team players available to him, but new £50million signing Andrey Santos will be the man to watch in the middle of the park.