A 2-2 of many twists, most of all in what a coruscating game represented. Manchester United’s trip to FC Barcelona is after all a famous Champions League fixture that was here an early Europa League play-off first leg, with the lessened pressure eventually bringing heightened entertainment, the Spanish league leaders not really looking like what that phrase has historically meant.

Their defence certainly looked off the level. Having conceded just seven goals in 1,890 minutes of LaLiga football this season, Barcelona suffered two in six minutes here, as United regularly looked like they could score at will – especially the effervescent Marcus Rashford.

He claimed one and set up the other, before offering a last twist in missing a fine chance on this kind of form. That in itself still would have felt a little harsh on Barca, who had enough big chances towards the end themselves. Ansu Fati was their response to Rashford, shifting the game back the other way.

There is no exact timeline for the sale of Manchester United. When interested parties are revealed after Friday’s soft deadline, the Glazers may well opt to extend the timeline for potential investors to come forward, hoping that a publicity battle will drive up the price buyers are willing to pay.

Should a deal be agreed upon, it would then have to receive ratification from the Premier League. Depending on the source of the money and the nature of the buyer it can vary as to how long this process would take.

PIF’s interest in Newcastle was announced in April 2020 but was not finalised until October 2021, for example.

The Glazers have set a £5bn valuation on the Premier League club but it is expected that bids after Friday’s deadline will not reach that price initially.

As a rough comparison Todd Boehly’s consortium bought Chelsea for £4.25bn so this will be the ball-park figure that the Glazers will want to aim for.

Friday’s deadline is, crucially, not the deadline for the sale of the club to be agreed. Instead, it is merely a deadline for interested buyers to register their interest and financial capability of buying the club from its current owners.

Bids do not have to be disclosed by the potential new owners with this process merely about gauging interest from interested parties.

What do bidders have to do before it?

In line with formally registering their interest, each party needs to submit a document to the Glazers by 10pm UK time.

In the document, there will be a paragraph-long statement from the interested buyer explaining how much of the club they want to own and what their offer is.

Interest from the Middle East is also expected. The emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, is a Man Utd fan and has been suggested as a potential bidder.

However, Qatar Sports Investment (QSI) - the state’s wealth fund that the emir owns - already runs Paris Saint-Germain with a bid therefore unlikely unless the sale of the French club is agreed.

There may be interest from private Qatari investors as well but as The Independent’s Miguel Delaney reports, such a move would likely still require state-level sanctioning and therefore would again be a conflict of interest with the state’s current ownership of PSG.

Saudi Arabian bidders are expected but the state-run Public Investment Fund (PIF) - majority owners of Newcastle United since last year – are unable to be one.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe, at this stage, is the only interested party to publicly announce his interest in taking over Manchester United. Britain’s richest man, who also owns French club Nice, is a boyhood United fan and confirmed in January he will be making a bid.

The Oldham-born billionaire owns INEOS Group, a British chemical company, and has hired American banks JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs to help him during the process.

The sale of Manchester United is set to reach its first important stage with the soft deadline for potential takeover proposals to be submitted coming on Friday.

Manchester United have been owned by the Glazer family since 2003 but the Americans announced in November last year that they would be putting the club up for sale.

The announcement follows years of unrest and fan protests surrounding their ownership.

Ahead of Friday’s deadline, here is everything you need to know.

Good morning, welcome to The Independent’s live blog following all the latest updates about the sale of Manchester United as well as reaction from the clubs 2-2 draw with Barcelona in the Europa League last night.

The big story of the day is that the deadline for potential buyers closes at 10pm tonight UK time. That’s a soft deadline set by the Glazer family so other bids could come in further down the line but the current owners want an overall look at the landscape and willingness to purchase the club.

Elsewhere, Erik ten Hag’s men impressed in their away leg of the Europa League play-offs. They had the unenviable task of trying to defeat Barcelona at the Camp Nou last night and almost pulled it off. A match which United dominated for lenghty periods ended in a 2-2 draw as both teams relied on their attacking powerhouses to keep them in the contest.

The second leg will be played next Thursday at Old Trafford and Ten Hag will be quietly confident that his players can get the job done with home crowd advantage.

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