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Every time Manchester United concedes a goal, drop a point or maybe even three, former Adelaide United star Awer Mabil winces.

It's something the lifelong Red Devils fan has been doing a lot of lately as life under Louis Van Gaal has become as agonising for devoted followers as it has been for the misfiring Red Devils players.

It’s been a season of few ups and many frowns for United and South Sudanese refugee Mabil, who on Friday (AEDT) could play his part in pushing despairing Dutchman Van Gaal ever closer to a long predicted Old Trafford exit when United travels to Denmark to face Mabil’s FC Midtjylland in the last 32 of the UEFA Europa League.

The permutations of the two-legged tie have been playing like a show reel through the lightning-quick attacker’s mind since the draw, as he mulls over the prospect of coming up against, and embarrassing, his idols.

The first leg, to be followed by the return at the Theatre of Dreams seven days later, will be FC Midtjylland’s first truly competitive game, aside from a string of friendlies, since the club went into hibernation for the Danish  Superliga’s long winter recess.

Mabil, who joined the defending Danish champion on a six-year deal from Adelaide last July, believes his side can still worry Wayne Rooney, Juan Mata and company, and, more pertinently, heap further pressure on Van Gaal.

“It hurts me to see United lose any match because they are a club I have loved all my life,” said Mabil, who has made seven appearances in all competitions for his new club and is seen as a player who can fashioned into a finished product before being sold on in the coming years.

“It’s been happening far more than I’d like this season, and even when they have put some results together, they have seemed to fall back again, which has been frustrating.

“I’ve never watched them play in person. That’s always been a dream of mine, to see them in the flesh at Old Trafford.

"So, the possibility that I could be in our squad to play them this week is quite mind-boggling for me.

“I have been training hard and doing all I can to push my case forward, but I know I have a lot to learn here, so I can’t take anything for granted at all.

"I will hope that when the time comes my name is in the squad.”

Mabil has been underwhelmed by the largely indigestible fare served up under Van Gaal’s watch, noting that the patient, probing passing game bears little resemblance to the swashbuckling effervescence of Alex Ferguson’s trophy-laden reign.

He contends that a well drilled Midtjylland side, constructed on the fraction of the budget United spends with such reckless abandon, can jolt his heroes.

“When you look at their form, and the way they have played this year, there’s definitely a chance there for us to upset them,” Mabil said. "They haven't been consistent and have looked quite vulnerable at times.

“Not many people will expect us to be that competitive over the two legs, so really we have nothing to lose whereas United do.

"We have been training with this game in mind for some time now, focusing on what we will need to do to be competitive ...  if we carry out the plans of our couching staff then don’t write us off.

“The level in Denmark is better than a lot of people might think, and I’m at a club which sets high standards and is third in the league right now and with a big ambition to win the title again.

“When you are drawn to play teams like Manchester United it gets everybody talking and we’re buzzing about it. Who’s to say we won’t make a name for ourselves against them?”