Here's why Man U fans will applaud as Beckham faces united for the first time since leaving old trafford in 2003

David Beckham's to face Man U tonight... after seven years!

Here's why Manu00a0U fans will applaud as Beckham faces united for the first time since leaving old trafford in 2003

Tonight the firecrackers will crackle as usual in the San Siro amid what promises to be an electrifying Champions League atmosphere.

It is AC Milan v Manchester United. David Beckham v Alex Ferguson. A reunion to stir the emotions and set the adrenaline coursing.

You can be sure the United fans travelling to Milan will want to see Beckham on the end of a European thumping, but they will also recognise the place United hold in his heart.

If they didn't, then Beckham has reminded them this past fortnight.

"Coming to terms with with not being a United player was certainly the toughest thing I've ever had to deal with," Beckham said.

"The relationship I have with the fans is still important to me. I went through some difficult times but they never stopped supporting me."

The bad times are well documented. The backlash following his sending-off at the 1998 World Cup in France.

The famous flying boot in the changing room which saw Beckham sporting a steri-strip over one of his eyebrows after becoming an accidental victim of one of Ferguson's post-match rants.

But to United fans, so many of whom currently despair at the club's vast debts and protest against the American owners, Beckham is a product of how they wish the club was still run. He is a shining light of the 'Class of 92'. The class which gave birth to the Neville brothers, Gary and Phil, Nicky Butt, Paul Scholes and Beckham himself.

For a decade or more Beckham & Co were the heartbeat of United. Without them Ferguson would not have compiled 11 Premier League titles. Nor would he have won the Champions League against Bayern Munich in 1999.

In 13 years Beckham played 394 times for the club, scoring 85 goals and winning six EPL titles and a Champions League. One of those goals, of course, was the one he scored from just inside his own half against Wimbledon in 1996, floating the ball over the head of goalkeeper Neil Sullivan. It was the goal that made Beckham.

The United fans remember that and so does Ferguson. Which is why tonight they will be prepared to applaud him and hope his reunion is anything but a happy one.

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