United stars head off on international duty

Manchester United team-mates will go head to head live on MUTV when Netherlands face France on Friday, one of numerous fixtures in this current international break to feature Reds stars.

Daley Blind and Memphis Depay are in the Dutch squad for the friendly encounter in Amsterdam as they build for the next World Cup qualifying campaign after missing out on the 2016 European Championships. Meanwhile Les Bleus, hosts of this summer's major tournament, can count upon Anthony Martial to provide plenty of excitement in attack. The game will be shown exclusively live in the UK on United's official television channel.

Netherlands' subsequent match will be against England at Wembley on Tuesday 29 March. Injuries to club colleagues including captain Wayne Rooney have left Chris Smalling as the only United player in Roy Hodgson's party for that game plus the preceding one on Saturday, when Bastian Schweinsteiger and Germany will provide the opposition.

Schweinsteiger will also face a team-mate on Tuesday 29 March, when the Germans meet Italy, as Matteo Darmian is in the Azzurri's squad for their schedule, which also includes a clash in Spain this Thursday. David De Gea and Juan Mata are both in the European champions' ranks with a friendly against Romania also on the horizon.

Paddy McNair is set to represent Northern Ireland against Wales on Thursday and Slovenia next Monday while Marouane Fellaini looks likely to play for Belgium against Portugal next Tuesday.

Guillermo Varela has been handed his first call-up to Uruguay's senior squad for their World Cup qualifiers against Brazil and Peru. Sergio Romero and Marcos Rojo are in Argentina's plans for the games with Chile and Bolivia. A fourth Red in South American action is Antonio Valencia with the fit-again Ecuadorian returning to his country's squad for the fixtures versus Paraguay and Colombia.

Thursday 24 March
Italy v Spain (Darmian; De Gea, Mata)
Wales v Northern Ireland (McNair)
Chile v Argentina (Romero, Rojo) 
Ecuador v Paraguay (Valencia) 

Friday 25 March
Netherlands v France (Blind, Memphis, Martial) – Live on MUTV
Brazil v Uruguay (Varela)

Saturday 26 March
Germany v England (Schweinsteiger; Smalling)

Sunday 27 March
Romania v Spain (De Gea, Mata)

Monday 28 March
Northern Ireland v Slovenia (McNair)

Tuesday 29 March
Belgium v Portugal (Fellaini)
Germany v Italy (Schweinsteiger; Darmian)
England v Netherlands (Smalling; Blind, Memphis)
France v Russia (Martial)
Argentina v Bolivia (Rojo, Romero)
Colombia v Ecuador (Valencia)
Uruguay v Peru (Varela)