The draw also means Gerard Pique, the towering centre-back, will face his old team - he was in the Reds' Champions League-winning squad of 2008 before lifting the same trophy with Barca at our expense in the 2009 and 2011 finals and once more, against Juventus, in 2015.



Yet the tantalising tie has arguably even greater resonance for Alexis Sanchez, who will no doubt be busting a gut in a bid to be back from a knee injury ahead of schedule to take on his former club.

Solskjaer recently suggested he hoped the Chilean could return to action around the time of the Everton game in the Premier League, but the trip to Spain comes earlier that week, with the second leg taking place at the Nou Camp on Tuesday 16 April.