Paul Pogba left his mark on Ander Herrera during Manchester United’s Europa League loss to Athletic Bilbao in 2012
New team-mates have met before — they were opponents during one of Frenchman's few appearances under Fergie
PAUL POGBA only made seven appearances during his first Manchester United spell — and he managed to leave a mark on one of his future team-mates.
The Frenchman’s only foray into European action under Sir Alex Ferguson was during a 2-1 defeat against Athletic Bilbao in the Europa League.
His direct opponent that night was Ander Herrera, and they enjoyed a real midfield tussle.
Pogba replaced Michael Carrick on 63 minutes and his current Spanish team-mate was substituted 19 minutes later.
But, there was still enough time for the pair to get acquainted before playing together a little over four years later.
The game itself was a forgettable one for United fans.
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Having already been eliminated from the Champions League group stage, they beat Ajax in their first Europa League match and went through to the next round despite narrowly losing the return at Old Trafford.
United amazingly lost a second successive home game, when Fernando Llorente’s double earned Bilbao a memorable 3-2 victory.
Ferguson was trying to add one of the few trophies missing from his sensational collection.
But the Red Devils were played off the park at the San Mames Stadium and exited the Europa League.
Llorente opened the scoring with a superb volley, before Oscar de Marcos killed off the tie.
Wayne Rooney’s late goal was merely a consolation.
Pogba left United at the end of that season and returned earlier this summer for a world-record £89million.
He and Herrera spent eight minutes on the pitch as team-mates during United’s 2-0 victory over Southampton.