Liverpool Had A Hard Time Getting To Old Trafford For The Manchester United Game As Protests Continue

Manchester United fans remain unhappy with the team’s ownership, and they’re not done causing a ruckus just yet. Last Sunday, the Red Devils had to cancel their game against Liverpool, as hooligan fans has stormed into the gates, and flooded the streets with protests.

Manchester United Fans Storm Pitch At Old Trafford As Part Of Protests Against Ownershiphttps://t.co/B3HBkrJFnM

— SideAction (@SideActionHQ) May 2, 2021

The game was re-scheduled for Thursday, but the protestors were back. The Liverpool team bus even had a hard time getting through the streets, and into Old Trafford.

Liverpool coach has been blocked into a side street near team hotel #MUFC #LFC pic.twitter.com/BtVviwczpu

— Daniel Taylor (@DTathletic) May 13, 2021

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That wasn’t the biggest problem, either. In the areas surrounding the stadium, police had to set up barricades from the Manchester United fans.

Manchester United fans return to Old Trafford to protest the club’s ownership before today’s game with Liverpool. pic.twitter.com/Xr7bqsE8Vr

— B/R Football (@brfootball) May 13, 2021

Manchester United fans continue to protest outside Old Trafford 🔴 pic.twitter.com/12siSOvhSJ

— GOAL (@goal) May 13, 2021

Luckily, it appears that the protests are remaining (mostly) peaceful today, and the Manchester United-Liverpool game should go on.

To take extraordinary measure, Manchester United had their players sleep in luxury boxes in Old Trafford to ensure that they wouldn’t have a problem when being transported to the stadium.

Per The Athletic:

Officials hatched top-secret plans to make sure the Premier League clash between the two rivals would go ahead after the fixture was postponed on May 2 when two sets of fans invaded the pitch and barricaded Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and his side inside The Lowry Hotel.

Usually, United’s squad stay at the Lowry before home games, with group meetings held and players able to sleep as required, before being bussed to Old Trafford, which is a 10-minute drive away. But the extraordinary events earlier this month prompted a drastic change to preparations.

Instead, players each drove themselves to Old Trafford more than six hours before the 8.15pm kick-off to make sure there was no possibility of them being delayed entry into the ground. Bruno Fernandes, Edinson Cavani and Mason Greenwood were among those seen driving through the gates of the ground from 2pm.

United staff appreciated that Old Trafford was not an ideal setting for such a long time, so transformed boxes in the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand by moving in beds to help players who were recovering after two matches in 72 hours to be able to rest properly.

Hopefully this game can start on stop on time without any more disruptions. So far, the plan appears to be working.

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