United fielded a fresh XI from Tuesday night’s reverse at Rotherham, with the likes of John Egan, Sander Berge and Anel Ahmedhodzic featuring, before a raft of substitutions again saw a number of youngsters get a chance to impress.
Goals from Sávio and Barcelona loanee Pablo Torre, in the dying moments of the game, sealed victory for the La Liga side, as a number of key United men got more valuable minutes in the legs ahead of this weekend’s trip to Derby County.
But how did they fare, before a raft of substitutions disrupted the flow somewhat? Here are our player ratings ...
9. Sander Berge 7
Showed excellent balance and quick feet to get out of what looked like a troubling situation so many times, and pinged a ball to Max Lowe’s toe-end with the minimum of effort. At his best he glides across the surface and is stronger than many realise, too - including a few Girona opponents who tried to muscle him off the ball | Sheffield United
10. Louie Marsh 6
In probably the toughest test of his professional career so far he and Osula didn’t get a great deal of joy out of Girona’s back line but there were some promising signs, with the young man working tirelessly with and without the ball | Sportimage
11. Will Osula 6
The youngster showed some signs of his growing maturity with an unselfish shift for his team, running the channels and holding the ball up well when the situation demanded it. Was frustrated at Ahmedhodzic not squaring for a possible tap-in and went close a little later with a well-struck effort on the angle that flew over the Girona bar | Sheffield United
12. Notable subs: Josh Smith 5
Came on much earlier than planned after Fleck hobbled off and a lovely bit of vision and pass sent Lowe clear down the left | Sportimage