Marcus Rashford and Harry Maguire have drawn on the experience of Bulgaria fans racially abusing England team members to prepare Manchester United for the worst-case scenario when playing Partizan Belgrade on Thursday.
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Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s side will play their third Europa League Group L game at Partizan Stadium. The Serbian club have already been ordered by Uefa to play two matches in the competition behind closed doors because of racist abuse from supporters.
Rashford and Maguire were part of the England team that twice had their Euro 2020 qualifier in Sofia halted because of racist abuse. Solskjær hopes the game on Thursday will be a celebration” of football, but his players have been primed.
We’ve spoken in general on subjects but of course Harry and Marcus, who were in Bulgaria, they were freer to talk about the atmosphere, how it was, what we can expect, what’s the worst-case scenario, the manager said. In the aftermath of what happened in Bulgaria we had a meeting with the boys and, as Harry said, we’ve gone through the protocol.
But I believe in people and I’m sure the atmosphere here will be fantastic, we’ll try and keep them quiet by playing good football. We trust Uefa and as Savo [Milosevic, Partizan’s manager] said, hopefully it’s a celebration of good football.
Maguire said: We will trust Uefa to follow their protocol with the three steps. Obviously Sofia was a sickening atmosphere, it was something I don’t want to be part of again. We’re positive tomorrow night will be a great atmosphere, one we’re all looking forward to playing in. If something does go off then we’ll follow the three-step protocol and I’m sure there will be people on and off the pitch doing their bit to make things better for the future.
The protocol first asks that a match is stopped and an announcement made to the crowd to stop the abuse. If it continues, teams are then taken to the dressing room and another announcement is made. If that fails the game is abandoned.
Milosevic said: I expect everything to be fair and in the spirit of the sport. We know our supporters, we are aware of the importance of the game and we are also aware of the problems we have had in the past. But the game will once again be a celebration of football, so I don’t expect any problems in that regard.
On Tuesday United issued an indefinite ban to a fan for the alleged racist abuse of Trent Alexander-Arnold during the 1-1 draw with Liverpool at Old Trafford on Sunday. Asked if this was a one-off or something more deep‑rooted, Solskjær said: I’m happy the club have identified – what do you want to call him? It’s something we feel strongly about and are going to stamp down on as much as we can.
United and Partizan both have four points from their opening two group games. The visitors’ Premier League form is more disappointing, however, with United having only 10 points from nine games, seven adrift of the Champions League places. Yet Solskjær believes his side can still finish in the top four. We are still not in November, he said.
After the 1-1 draw with Liverpool on Sunday, Roy Keane said United’s lack of goals – they have managed only 10 in the league – could be solved by buying Harry Kane from Tottenham.
Solskjær, a former teammate of Keane’s at United, said: Roy’s quite straightforward, isn’t he. There aren’t many [Robert] Lewandowskis and Harry Kanes. They’re like [Alan] Shearer, [Ruud] Van Nistelrooy – fantastic goalscorers.
Ours are different types of players, but I have to say I like someone who can finish half a chance. He’s one of the best, but he’s a Tottenham player.
