The buzz around Barcelona remains
The sun was out on the morning after the night before in Barcelona and, for all the serenity of this beautiful city, there was still the sense that the epic encounter at the Nou Camp was being felt by the locals.
Even strolling through a relatively quiet park on the way to revisit the stadium, the chatter was about the 2-2 draw, even allowing for the fact that my club colours may have sparked such conversation.
All of the sports-based newspapers carried pictures and headlines covering a classic Europa League tie, some sounding clear alarm bells that Xavi's men are missing Pedri and Gavi for the second leg next week.
Where the famous old arena had throbbed last night, it was still busy today, with a long queue to purchase museum and stadium tour tickets and everybody was still discussing how the events had unfolded in that spectacular second half.
The buzz around the place was palpable - everyone wanted to digest and debate what had taken place.
I'd made the five-minute walk from our hotel to the stadium again because my son had suggested he wanted a half-and-half scarf. They had hundreds yesterday, not just in the stalls around the campus but also on each floor in the gigantic megastore. To my eternal shame, I didn't buy one on matchday because I thought they would be cheaper once the event had finished.
Please don't judge me - you should see some of the prices in the Nou Camp shop!
Anyhow, I'm losing parenting points because everywhere had sold out. The stalls gave a flat 'sold out' response and even the assistant at the official store explained to me how they had gone in an hour from there, despite ordering loads in. He'd just given the same explanation to the guy in front of me and it seems these garments, not exactly my favourite item if I'm being totally honest, had become the must-have memorabilia from the game.
What is easy to admire about Barcelona is it is this huge tourist attraction of a city but football appears to dominate its everyday life. Just as the Nou Camp imposes itself on the landscape, the club seems, as an outsider, to be so utterly integral to the place.
You sense there was a little bit of surprise with how often United were able to expose a defence that had only conceded seven goals in 21 La Liga matches. Maybe they were becoming accustomed to winning consistently again and fancied their chances of blowing Erik ten Hag's men away. Certainly, the pre-match show on TV had all three pundits predicting a home win.
Yet, from Xavi's honest assessment in his press conference, and speaking to some of the locals, there does seem to be an acceptance now that things will be very difficult for the Catalan side at Old Trafford. The tie is still on a knife-edge and evenly balanced but the respect between the two clubs is obvious.
No longer sleeping giants but awakening ones, the world awaits the second leg with Manchester, this time, the stage. We definitely can't promise the sun but we can fully expect the same buzz.
The opinions in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of Manchester United Football Club.