63 Years Of The Munich Tragedy, Solskjaer Hope United Will Pay Their Respects With Victory

Fans gather at the Munich Tragedy monument located outside Old Trafford Stadium, Manchester, England, on February 1, 2020, to commemorate 62 years of the Munich tragedy (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hopes Manchester United's players can perform well as a tribute to the 63rd anniversary of the Munich tragedy, when they host Everton at Old Trafford on Saturday night.

The Munich tragedy occurred on February 6, 1958, when the British European Airways 609 plane carrying the United squad home from the Champions Cup match against Red Star Belgrade crashed after taking off from Munich-Riem Airport, killing 23 lives, including eight players and three MU staff.

Solskjaer recalled that the match against Everton was the fourth time MU had a Premier League match to coincide with the anniversary of the Munich Tragedy.

"It is important for us to be able to put on a proper performance and hopefully we can commemorate it with a positive result," said Solskjaer as quoted by Antara from MU's official website on Saturday, February 6.

"The tragedy is an important part of the history and encouragement of this club," he added.

Solskjaer, who also attended the Munich Tragedy several times during his time in Manchester United, said he had spoken with players who recently joined the Red Devils about the significance of the incident.

"This is an important and emotional day for everyone. Hopefully we can play a team that represents the spirit of Manchester United," he said.

"Of course, we have six or seven academy graduates, hopefully they can guide us to victory," concluded Solskjaer.

Marcus Rashford is a graduate of the MU academy who has become the backbone of the Red Devils in recent seasons.

Meanwhile, Mason Greenwood, another MU academy graduate, is expected to be able to follow in Rashford's footsteps.

United are currently in second place in the Premier League standings with 44 points and are only three points behind city rivals Manchester City after losing just one defeat in their last 16 matches.