Man Utd keep a lid on white-hot Elland Road atmosphere

The pre-match music blaring over the tannoy had a real 1990s ‘big night on the tiles’ theme to it, with Chumbawamba’s ‘Tubthumping’ followed up by Underworld’s ‘Born Slippy’ to get the home faithful in the mood.

Mateusz Klich, who represented Leeds between 2017 and 2023, was back in town and received a warm welcome when paraded around the pitch, but the atmosphere was generally fairly tame until around 10 minutes to kick-off.

Then the stadium announcer read out the teams – each Red greeted with a ring of boos, every home player cheered to the rafters.

I was sat next to former United midfielder Ben Thornley, who played here at various levels, including in the Premier League and an FA Youth Cup final.

He said Elland Road was always one of the toughest places to come as a player, an intimidating venue no matter what the occasion.

With almost three years having passed since our last visit – and few surviving players from that clash, won 2-0 by the Reds, on each side – this was always going to be a fiery contest and the noise was cranked up to ‘hearing protection-required level’ when the Whites’ anthem ‘Marching on Together’ began.