The Red Devils kick off their European campaign at Old Trafford against Dutch side FC Twente. Erik ten Hag's Man United side will look to build on their recent good form as they start their Europa League campaign on Wednesday at home against FC Twente. The Red Devils have recently chalked up big wins over Southampton in the Premier League and Barnsley in the Carabao Cup, but were held to a goalless draw away at Crystal Palace in the EPL at the weekend.

They now come up against a Twente side that's currently in fourth place in the Dutch Eredivisie with three wins and two draws from their opening six domestic fixtures.

This tie forms part of a new league phase in the rejigged, 36-team Europa League which sees each club play at least eight matches.

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag faces a club close to his heart in the Europa League on Wednesday, but also one where tragedies shaped his fledgling career. At FC Twente a team-mate of Ten Hag's died in a plane crash. A year later another player was killed in a car accident. When Ten Hag was captain a fatal fireworks disaster stunned the club's city.

These three moments have shaped United's upcoming opponents Twente. They also made Ten Hag into the man he is today.

Ten Hag (right) had three playing spells at FC Twente between 1989 and 2002, spanning nine seasons

Andy Scharmin was captain of the Netherlands Under-21 side. He was supposed to be the next superstar in Dutch, and European, football.

"Scharmin and Erik were similar ages, they came from the same village," ex-Twente goalkeeper Theo Snelders told BBC Sport.

On 7 June 1989 Scharmin and 16 other young footballers were flying to Suriname for a pre-season friendly, to raise awareness of Dutch-Surinamese players when their plane crashed on its approach to landing.

In total, 176 people on board were killed, including Scharmin, 13 of his team-mates and their coach.

"It was a huge tragedy for the club," said Snelders, who played with Scharmin for two years.

Ten Hag and other Twente players were pallbearers at Scharmin's funeral and the United manager has a day of mourning on 7 June every year.

"Scharmin was an unimaginable athlete and my friend," Ten Hag said a few years ago.

"I will never forget my team-mate Edwin Hilgerink standing on my doorstep to tell me that a plane had crashed with Andy and his mother on board."

Tom Krommendijk died in a car crash a few months after he signed for FC Twente

A late developer, Ten Hag was still in the youth set-up at Twente when Scharmin was killed. He played two seasons with the first team before transferring to second-tier De Graafschap in the summer of 1990. That summer Twente signed promising midfielder Tom Krommendijk, 23, from Feyenoord. After the first match of the season Krommendijk was driving home when he lost control of his car and died in the resulting crash. Two players dying in 14 months, at one club.

Ten Hag had only just left Twente but his connections were still deep - indeed, he would rejoin in 1992. "Twente brought me a lot," Ten Hag said in his news conference on Tuesday before United's match. "[There is] a great deal of history there." "I was part of their first youth team. Twente is the team I follow the most. I watch them as a fan, not as an analyst."

The Enschede fireworks disaster killed 23, destroyed 400 homes and damaged 1,500 buildings. Then Dutch Prime Minister Wim Kok (left) and Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands (second left) visited the city a year on

In 1994, Ten Hag left his boyhood club again to play for fellow Dutch club RKC Waalwijk. He then spent a season at Utrecht but returned to Twente in 1996, where he finished his playing career six years later - at the age of 32. In May 2000 the city of Enschede, where Twente play, was the scene of a catastrophic disaster after an explosion at a fireworks warehouse. Twenty-three people were killed, 950 were injured, and the suburb of Roombeek had to be rebuilt. Ten Hag was captain of Twente at the time and three days later led out his side before an emotional 2-2 draw at NAC Breda. Twelve months after the disaster Ten Hag skippered Twente to the Dutch Cup, the club's first trophy in 24 years. "That brought so much joy to the area," said Snelders. "These tragedies, that’s why Twente now is so close.

"There’s a [Dutch] word called Noaberschap. You look after your neighbours, to help each other, keep an eye on them. That's what the east of Holland stands for. That's Twente."

Ex-England manager Steve McClaren often let Ten Hag lead training sessions when he was in charge of Twente

Ten Hag retired from playing at the end of the following season. He was made head of youth development and, along with Snelders, now back in the Netherlands, started to earn his coaching badges. "Me and Erik had to do 18 sessions and we always drove together, except when the carnival was around and Erik wanted to go, so he chucked it," said Snelders. Despite his occasional absence, Ten Hag still got his coaching badges because he was "well-liked" and pretty much "knew his knowledge already" added Snelders. "He wasn't quite the teacher’s pet, but the teachers were always asking 'do you agree with that Erik?'"

By the time of his final season with Twente, 2008-09, Ten Hag was so embedded with the club that manager Steve McClaren - formerly England boss - let him take training sessions for the first two months of his tenure, so as to not upset the side's culture. Ten Hag left to become a coach at PSV Eindhoven in 2009, having helped shape the modern Twente. But how did the club influence him?

"He cares about people. He is a very caring soul," said Snelders. "He is not just interested in the player but also the person, and their families.

"I didn't think he'd be managing Manchester United [when he left Twente]. But he made the right steps to develop and he's very good with young players.

"He's got the talent. At Ajax he grew again. What he did there was unbelievable."

Below, we'll outline the best live TV streaming services to use to watch every game live wherever you are in the world.

Marcus Rashford will be hoping to be in the first XI for today's game after he was surprisingly dropped for Man United's EPL clash with Crystal Palace at the weekend. Man United host Twente at Old Trafford on Wednesday, May 25. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. BST local time in the UK, which is 3 p.m. ET or 12 p.m. PT in the US and Canada, and 5 a.m. AEST on Friday, May 10, in Australia.

If you find yourself unable to view the game locally, you may need a different way to watch this match -- that's where using a VPN can come in handy. A VPN is also the best way to stop your ISP from throttling your speeds on game day by encrypting your traffic, and it's also a great idea if you're traveling and find yourself connected to a Wi-Fi network, and you want to add an extra layer of privacy for your devices and logins.

With a VPN, you're able to virtually change your location on your phone, tablet or laptop to get access to the game. Most VPNs, like our Editors' Choice, ExpressVPN, make it really easy to do this.

Using a VPN to watch or stream sports is legal in any country where VPNs are legal, including the US, UK and Canada, as long as you have a legitimate subscription to the service you're streaming. You should be sure your VPN is set up correctly to prevent leaks: Even where VPNs are legal, the streaming service may terminate the account of anyone it deems to be circumventing correctly applied blackout restrictions.

ExpressVPN is our current best VPN pick for people who want a reliable and safe VPN, and it works on a variety of devices. It's normally $13 a month, but if you sign up for an annual subscription for $100 you'll get three months free and save 49%. That's the equivalent of $6.67 a month with code SPECIALDEAL, which should be automatically applied. Note that ExpressVPN offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.

American soccer fans can stream this game via Paramount Plus, which has exclusive live English-language broadcast rights in the U.S. for the Europa League. Paramount Plus has two main subscription plans in the U.S.: Essential for $8 per month and Premium for $13 per month. Both offer coverage of the Europa League. The cheaper Essential option has ads for on-demand streaming and lacks live CBS feeds as well as the ability to download shows to watch offline later. Newcomers to the service can take advantage of a 30-day free trial, while students may qualify for a 25% discount. Read our Paramount Plus review.

Live broadcast rights in the UK for this game are with TNT Sports. TNT Sports is offering Europa League matches exclusively live this season to viewers in the UK. You can access TNT Sports in exactly the same way as its predecessor BT Sport, including via Sky Q as a TV package, as well as the option of streaming online. It costs £31 either way and comes in a package that includes Discovery Plus' library of documentary content.

If you want to stream Europa League games live in Canada, you'll need to subscribe to DAZN Canada. The service has exclusive broadcast rights to the tournament this season. A DAZN subscription currently costs CA$30 a month or CA$200 a year and will also give you access to Champions League and EFL Championship soccer, Six Nations rugby and WTA tennis. As well as dedicated apps for iOS and Android, there's a wide range of support for set-top boxes and smart TVs.

Football fans Down Under can watch Europa League matches on streaming service Stan Sport, which has exclusive rights to show the competition live in Australia this season. Stan Sport will set you back AU$15 a month (on top of an AU$12 Stan subscription), but the streaming service is currently offering a seven-day free trial. A subscription will also give you access to Champions League and Europa Conference League action, as well as international rugby and Formula E.