SUPPER HEROES

Hot plot on menu as Ten Hag and Fergie aim to put bite on Barca

- DAVID MCDONNELL

WHEN it came to the biggest game of his Manchester United tenure, there was only one person for Erik ten Hag to call on for advice.

Sir Alex Ferguson was Ten Hag's dining partner at a Cheshire restaurant on Tuesday night, 48 hours before tonight's Europa League play-off decider against Barcelona.

If Ten Hag was looking for pointers on how to overcome the Spanish giants at Old Trafford, he need have looked no further than United's most decorated former manager.

Ferguson, now 81, faced Barca nine times, winning two and drawing four, with two of his three defeats coming in Champions League finals against Pep Guardiola's formidable former side.

Yet the two wins were memorable the 1991 Cup Winners' Cup final and the 2008 Champions League semi-final en route to lifting the famous trophy in Moscow.

Ten Hag relished the chance to pick Ferguson's football brain over a dinner that lasted more than two hours, with the pair enjoying lavish food and red wine as they chatted.