Manchester United comes to Trondheim – will meet Rosenborg

– I’ve been there a couple of times with the club, and it’s always special to go there. We are always well received by the fans. It was a little surprising the first time – there were a lot of fans, and I didn’t expect that, he says to VG.

In this interview, he talks about the love Norwegian fans show for “the red devils”. And Dalot, he is looking forward to a Norwegian reunion.

– You can see the love they have not only for the club, but also for the individual players.

This is what it looked like when Dalot and Manchester United were in Norway in 2019:

Manchester United have been to Norway on several occasions, but it has been a very long time since the team met Rosenborg. According to United.no, the Reds won 8–0 at Lerkendal in 1977 and 3–1 in 1992.

– We have a huge fan base in Norway, and look forward to both meeting them again and building on the strong relationship between us. It has been 32 years since the two most successful clubs in England and Norway met, so this will be a unique experience for many football fans, says Manchester United’s sporting director John Murtough in a press release from the Norwegian company Scandsports, which has also organized several of the past years’ training matches with foreign teams in Norway.

– We are a club with ambitions to compete nationally as well as internationally. It is therefore a great and educational opportunity for our players to test themselves against international opposition, says Rosenborg coach Alfred Johansson.

Diogo Dalot says to VG that it is special to be able to visit the supporters where they usually are, since not everyone has the opportunity to fly over to the UK constantly.

And that is many Norwegian fans with their hearts in the red part of Manchester.

– That is a good sign. It shows that we have done something right through, and I hope it stays that way for a long, long time, says Dalot.

A small curiosity is that Manchester United’s Scandinavian supporters’ club had 45,942 paying members in the May 2023 census.

By comparison, the largest political party at the municipal and county council elections in 2023, Høyre, reached 30,000 last summer. The Labor Party had 49,042 paying members at the count last year.

PS: In addition to Rosenborg, Manchester United will face Liverpool, Arsenal, Real Betis and Glasgow Rangers during the summer. You can see all the matches as a subscriber to VG+ Sport.

Dalot laughs at the comparison.

– It shows that we could be a strong political party! No, I don’t know. It shows the love they have for the team.

– Did Diogo run for prime minister at the next Norwegian general election?

– Maybe not Diogo, but we could have had some other players, yes, jokes the defender.