When Manchester United met Liverpool in the FA Youth Cup back in 2011, there were more than 10,000 fans watching at Anfield as United emerged victorious in a dramatic quarter-final.
Both sides had two men sent off as a United XI that included Paul Pogba and Ravel Morrison came from 2-0 down to win 3-2 amid a hostile atmosphere on Merseyside.
The two teams will meet again in the competition on Saturday, as the Youth Cup plays catch-up having been forced to postpone fixtures over the winter due to the ongoing issues with the Covid-19 pandemic.
There will obviously be no fans in the stands at the fourth-round tie, but one massive United supporter will be doing all he can at Leigh Sports Village to maintain the Red Devils' push to win a trophy they have not got their hands on since Pogba, Morrison et al lifted it a decade ago.
“I love it here, it’s amazing, I’m just glad to be back. I’m a United fan and I love the club through and through,” striker Charlie McNeill beamed after scoring in United's third-round win over Salford City.
Having spent the previous six seasons across the Manchester divide playing for City, 17-year-old McNeill re-joined the club of his dreams in the summer of 2020, after originally being tempted away from United by education that was promised by their great rivals.
United knew they were losing one of their most talented youngsters at the time, and McNeill delivered on his potential at City, plundering over 600 goals for the various youth sides during his time there.
But with McNeill having rejected the chance to sign a professional contract having grown frustrated at the lack of a pathway towards the first-team at the Etihad Campus, other clubs who had been monitoring his progress began considering their options.
RB Leipzig were heavily linked with signing the teenager, but it was United who won the race, paying an initial £750,000 ($1m) to bring McNeill back to the club in September, with the move made official two days after his 17th birthday.
That fee could rise to as much as £1.5m ($2m) if certain incentives are met, and given some of them are linked with him making the leap to the first team, sources at the club believe they have got themselves a potential bargain.
For now, McNeill has spent the campaign representing the Under-18s, for whom he has scored 15 league goals in 14 starts this term.
The highlight of his season came against former club City, as he scored all four goals in a 4-2 victory, before running towards photographers to kiss the badge in a bid to show, once and for all, where his allegiances lie.
McNeill, it is fair to say, is no shrinking violet, though he still has some learning to do, both on and off the pitch.
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He was forced to apologise following the Salford win after saying he would like to "rub Liverpool's faces in it" in the next round, and though most United fans would certainly sign up to that view, there is a line players - particularly those still learning their craft - probably should not cross.
“Charlie is a character, absolutely," United U18s coach Neil Ryan said after the Salford win. "He is a cheeky little lad every now and then.
“But you do want young footballers to have character and confidence, and that’s what he’s got. We don’t want to knock that out of him, but we of course want to make sure he knows the levels of respect for everyone, and he does.”
McNeill has every right to have confidence given his goalscoring record, and though he has been known to play slightly deeper at times, he is very much an old-fashioned number nine who has displayed a variety of finishes with both feet during his first season back at United.
His strike against Salford was a superb individual effort, rounded off by a shot from a tight angle that flew into the top corner, but there is still progress to make before he is ready to take the next step.
"Settling into the club takes a little bit of time, of course, but he has settled in well since the summer," Ryan said. "He is working very hard on the things we’ve identified he needs to improve on.
“He’s not the finished article, like all of them [in the U18s]. He is knuckling down, working hard, and he’s getting some rewards with goals - long may it continue.”
Having made his debut for the U23s in February, it is surely only a matter of time before he makes a place in that side his own, and if he maintains scoring at his current rate, it will not be long before he appears on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's radar.
The Norwegian has shown he is willing to give youth a chance, with 17-year-old Shola Shoretire having already made his senior debut this season, while 18-year-old midfielder Hannibal Mejbri is training with the first team after recovering from injury.
The pathway is clearly there, and as such McNeill will feel he made the right choice by swapping back to the red side of Manchester.
United are reaping the benefits of that decision, with a superstar striker of the future now back in their grasp and thriving.
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