As Manchester United prepare to get their Europa League campaign underway against Real Sociedad, thoughts may turn to the 2013-14 season.
Back then, as now, United were drawn against La Real in Europe as a new manager looked to make an early impression. In 2013, though, it was the Champions League not the Europa League, and David Moyes rather than Erik ten Hag.
Ten Hag will be keen to make an instant impact at Old Trafford after a run of four successive victories helped lift his team up the Premier League table. The Dutchman is poised to bring Cristiano Ronaldo back into the fold, with history repeating itself after the 2013 clash at Old Trafford was surrounded by conversations about a wantaway star.
In October 2013, things weren't entirely rosy for Moyes, with the Scot's honeymoon period coming to an end. United had lost three of their first eight league games, and sat eighth in the table as they prepared to welcome Real Sociedad to Manchester.
There was more positivity in Europe, at least, with a 4-2 victory over Bayer Leverkusen and a goalless draw away to Shakhtar Donetsk. If Moyes thought he could go into the game free from distractions, he was wrong.
Wayne Rooney had played his part under the new manager, having made his debut for Everton under Moyes more than a decade earlier. He scored three times in the first eight league games, adding a brace against Leverkusen, but it emerged on the eve of the Real Sociedad game that he had asked to leave just months earlier.
"He came into my office the day after we won the league [in 2013] and asked away," former manager Sir Alex Ferguson wrote in his autobiography, released the week of the game. However, in a press conference around the launch, he put the request into more context.
"The fact is, Wayne wasn't playing well," he explained. "But do you think I would have dropped him in the form he is in now? No way. Now we see a different player, a fantastic player."
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The revelation didn't affect Moyes' team selection. Rooney was still named in the starting XI, partnering Javier Hernandez up front, with a midfield of Antonio Valencia, Michael Carrick, Shinji Kagawa and Ryan Giggs behind them.
The home side wasted no time getting themselves in front, either, and Rooney was involved. Less than two minutes were on the clock when the England international broke into the box and looked for the far corner of Claudio Bravo's goal. The ball cannoned back off the post but, in trying to clear the danger, defender Inigo Martinez could only send it into his own net.
Rooney continued to threaten, drawing a save from Bravo as he looked to double the lead and also sending an acrobatic effort off-target. The game ended 1-0, but Moyes was quick to give credit to the frontman.
"If we had scored five or six today it wouldn't would have looked out of place.," the manager said, while pointing out his concern after conceding dangerous free-kicks after failing to extend their lead. "Wayne Rooney was absolutely terrific tonight, I was shouting at him in the last five minutes though.
"We just want a top player like Wayne to play well. I said from day one that his training was great. I think England have seen that. But we need to see it all the time."
United picked up a point in the reverse fixture at Anoeta, before rounding off the group stage with two more victories to top the group. They squeaked past Olympiacos in the last 16 but their luck eventually ran out at the hands of holders Bayern Munich
Moyes' time was up not much later, and United have endured a number of false dawns in the eight-and-a-half years since his dismissal. There have been positives since Ten Hag's appointment, but he too has needed to find a solution to an experienced striker who may well have left over the summer in other circumstances.
Cristiano Ronaldo told the club he was ready to leave after last season's sixth-place finish, with the Portugal international keen to play in the Champions League. With no suitable takers, though, he will embark on his first ever Europa League campaign of a decorated career.
"He started against Brentford. Then not since but he is ready to start," Ten Hag said of Ronaldo as United prepare to face a team who they also knocked out of the Europa League in 2021. "Maybe I cannot keep all [of the players] happy every game but everyone gets their game-time if they perform well, quite clear.
"We need everyone, we have a lot of games to cover in front of us, it's not only the national teams and the World Cup but the cups in England, the Europa League, the League Cup and, of course, the Premier League."
Ten Hag, unlike Moyes with Rooney, has been unafraid to bench Ronaldo when he feels the team is better off with other players in attack. This is something we saw on Sunday, with the veteran coming off the bench in the victory over Arsenal, but Ronaldo is expected to start against Real Sociedad
The bigger task will be keeping him consistently happy while using him sparingly. We may get an idea of how well that will work on Thursday.
