Strong Europe tour squad

A star-studded, 21-man squad, including Nemanja Vidic and Wayne Rooney, left Manchester airport on Saturday afternoon for the latest leg of the DHL pre-season tour.

The Reds flew to Norway for Sunday's sold-out match against Norwegian top-flight side Valerenga and will then travel to Sweden to face Barcelona in Gothenburg on Wednesday 8 August. The squad will return to England for two days' training in Manchester before completing pre-season preparations with a game in Germany against Hannover 96 on Saturday 11 August.

Last month's trip to South Africa and China featured a young United squad shorn of players involved in the summer's European Championship, as well as injured skipper Nemanja Vidic. But the Serbian centre-back and the likes of Wayne Rooney, Patrice Evra, Ashley Young and Nani all travelled to Oslo on Saturday.

Injured defenders Chris Smalling (foot) and Jonny Evans (ankle) remained in the UK to continue treatment (their absence means teenager Michael Keane travels), as did Olympians Ryan Giggs, Tom Cleverley and Rafael.

Assistant manager Mike Phelan will take charge of United in Norway, with Sir Alex Ferguson on other club business. The boss will rejoin the squad for the match against Barcelona in Gothenburg.

All Tour 2012 tour games will be broadcast live on MUTV and MUTV Online to UK and Ireland residents, while fans in all territories should keep an eye on the dedicated Tour 2012 section on ManUtd.com for news, interviews and behind-the-scenes content.

ManUtd.com journalist Nick Coppack is travelling with the team and is providing regular updates in