Manchester United got their pre-season off to a flying start with a 4-0 rout of rivals Liverpool in Thailand on Tuesday, giving new manager Erik ten Hag a big boost in his first match in charge.
Liverpool looked jaded and on the back foot for much of the match against a United team with superior fitness who capitalised on a series of first-half errors in Bangkok with three goals in the space of 21 minutes.
Liverpool had the best of the early action before United opened the scoring after 12 minutes when a Bruno Fernandez cross was poorly handled by the Liverpool defence, allowing Jadon Sancho to fire into bottom corner.
Liverpool came close to an equaliser soon after when new signing Fabio Carvalho’s shot beat goalkeper David de Gea and cannoned off the far post, with Luis Diaz latching onto the ball in the ensuing scramble and hitting the upright.
But United remained in control, with chances for Marcus Rashford and Scott McTominay troubling Liverpool.
United doubled their lead on the half hour mark when Fernandez and Anthony Martial linked up before laying the ball off to Fred, whose deft finish sailed over outstretched keeper Alisson Becker.
United made it 3-0 three minutes later when Martial dispossessed substitute Rhys Williams and coolly lifted the ball over the advancing Alisson, while Diogo Dalot almost added a fourth when his angled shot struck the post.
Managers Juergen Klopp and Ten Hag made 10 changes around halftime, after which Liverpool emerged better organised, with chances from their 75 million euros ($75.42 million) striker Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah, who was frustrated late on by De Gea and the woodwork.
But United completed the demolition with 14 minutes left, Facundo Pellistri latching onto an Eric Bailly pass on the counter and converting with ease after a one-two with Amad Diallo.
Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp conducts a training session in front of fans at Rajamangala Stadium on Monday, ahead of the clash against Manchester United on Tuesday.
Sami Hyypia, the celebrated Finnish former defender and Liverpool captain, who won the cup treble of League Cup, FA Cup and UEFA Cup for his club in 2001, sees the “The Match Bangkok Century Cup” as a very special game where two giants of world football will clash.
The July 12 match at the Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok is a very special occasion for football fans on this side of the world to witness this match in their very own home country. This is the first time the two arch-rivals would be playing against each other in Asia.
What are your thoughts about the upcoming “The Match Bangkok Century Cup”?
Yeah, when you think of Liverpool versus Manchester United, it always has been a big rivalry and it’s great for the fans in this part of the world that that we are able to bring this kind of game here and to play it here. And I think both teams, even if it’s a pre-season, when you play against Manchester United you want to win it.”
The attitude is that because it’s a big rival that we’re gonna win.
It’s going to be exciting. Probably we will see a lot of changes because the players have just trained for a week and they have to play this kind of game. I wouldn’t think that there’s a player who plays 90 minutes, so the coaches and managers want to rotate to keep the players safe from injuries as well. But I think we are going to see a competitive game that both teams want to win.”
What do you think of the strong partnership between AXA and Liverpool FC?
I think sponsors are very, very important in any kind of sport and what I’ve experienced with Liverpool FC with sponsors, the ties are very strong. I think it’s very important that the club and the sponsors have the same aim or same kind of values and that matches with AXA and Liverpool Football Club that we never give up and and we are confident and obviously that’s a good sign of the relationship that the training centre is named “AXA Training Centre”. So, yeah, those values match and it’s a good match.
Could you guess the scoreline of the match?
I hope we see a lot of goals, but I don’t know. I’m always very bad at guessing the score, but what should I say? I say we win 4-2.
How do you feel about the game that you played as captain in Thailand in 2001 that was like 20 something years ago with tomorrow’s event as a legend of a Liverpool FC who’s won two championships.
I don’t remember much of that game that was part of the preseason, and I think we were so tired already of running and everything that you don’t recall much from the game. I think we won 3-1. I don’t remember that much of the game, but I think we had open training before the game that time as well, and I remember that there were a lot of people watching the open training and that was like a surprise for me that people came to watch our training and and it’s interesting to see in the game how many United supporters are there in the stadium and how many Liverpool. I don’t know which club has more supporters in Thailand.
Could you tell us your experience as a player about matches between Manchester United and Liverpool?
For us players, I always try to concentrate on every game the same way. It doesn’t matter who is our opponent but I think walking on the street in Liverpool, you know that the Manchester United game is coming up because they start to talk about it two weeks before the game and I said, ‘hey there’s a few games before that we have to win’. So, I don’t think about the United game yet. So I think for the fans and everything, it was more important than us players. For me, it was just another game and I always try to do my best in every game, it doesn’t matter who you play against and that was my way of doing things and I also think that’s the right way.
The 48-year-old Finn played 464 matches for Liverpool over a decade, scoring 35 goals. He led the team in 204 games, the seventh highest in the club’s history winning the UEFA Champions League, the Champions League, the FA Cup twice, the League Cup, the UEFA Cup and the Super Cup twice.
Premier League teams have skipped their lucrative pre-season tours of Asia for the past two years due to the pandemic. “The Match Bangkok Century Cup 2022” is scheduled for an 8pm start at Rajamangala Stadium, which can accommodate around 59,000 people.
New coach Erik ten Hag conducted a Manchester United training session in front of fans at Rajamangala Stadium on Monday, ahead of the clash against Liverpool on Tuesday.
Photo Credit: Korbphuk Phromrekha from NationPhoto
Tickets for the match between Liverpool and Manchester United were being offered for half price at Bangkok’s Rajamangala Stadium on Monday, prompting fury among fans who had paid the full price.
The pre-season clash between the Premier League giants has been dogged by accusations of overpriced tickets, with seats to watch the match costing up to 25,000 baht – more than the price of a Champions League final ticket. The match is due to kick off at Rajamangala on Tuesday at 8pm Thai time.
The latest controversy came after fans found tickets being sold at half price in front of the stadium as they arrived to watch training sessions held by the two teams on Monday.
The issue went viral after Facebook page “Khobsanam” posted a photo of an advertisement offering tickets at a 50 per cent discount.
Netizens weighed in with more information, saying the discount applied to tickets originally priced at 7,000 baht, 12,000 baht and 15,000 baht.
Fans who had already bought tickets at the full price slammed the discounted seats as unfair, while others criticised the high price of tickets in the first place.
New Manchester United coach Eric Ten Hag exchanged souvenirs with match organiser Vinij Lertratanachai at a press conference on Monday before the one-off game against Liverpool at Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok on Tuesday.
A Thai Fifa player got a surprise online match against Liverpool star Diogo Jota while he was playing on live stream.
Jota has brought a portable PS5 console with him for the pre-season tour to play in his free time.
After the Liverpool training session in Bangkok on Sunday, Thai Fifa player ‘KORRAeiei’ found himself pitted against Jota’s team, ‘Aguiar FC’.
Jota did not start the match with any of his Liverpool colleagues.
KORRAeiei won the match, pipping Jota 5-4 in the penalty shootout.
Diogo Jota has a reputation of being great not only on the actual football field but also in the digital version. Previously he had won 30 consecutive matches in the “FUT Champions Weekend League” mode of Fifa Ultimate Team.
Fans will get a chance to see Jota on the field at Rajamangala Stadium on Tuesday when Liverpool take on Manchester United in a one-off special match.
Thailand’s Olympic gold medallist Panipak “Tennis” Wongpattanakit on Monday met Liverpool players, who arrived in Bangkok on Sunday, and got autographs from them.
Panipak posted pictures of herself with Alisson Becker, Thiago Alcântara, and Andrew Robertson on her Facebook page.
The Thai champ also posted a video of her displaying her taekwondo skills, kicking a bottle of water placed on the head of Alisson Becker.
Liverpool will hold a public training session from 7.30pm to 9pm at Rajamangala Stadium on Monday while their much-awaited match against Manchester United will start at 8pm on Tuesday.
Manchester United star Bruno Fernandes explained why he surprised Thai fans by stopping to sign autographs for them straight after the squad’s 13-hour flight from the UK.
On Saturday, Fernandes delighted fans waiting at Don Mueang Airport and his hotel by mingling with them and agreeing to their requests for photos and autographs.
On Sunday, Adidas held a “Meet the Red Devils” event at Bangkok’s CentralWorld mall, attended by Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford and goalkeeper David de Gea.
Fernandes explained that arriving at the airport was a great opportunity to get up close and personal with Man Utd’s die-hard followers in Thailand. He said he realised fans had been waiting for a long time to get a glimpse of the team, so he wanted to sign autographs and take selfies with them.
Fans will get their first chance to see him and other Manchester United stars in action at Rajamangala Stadium on Monday evening, when the team will hold a public training session from 5pm to 6.30pm.
On Tuesday, the Red Devils will debut their new 2022-23 team kit in the match against Liverpool at Rajamangala. The pre-season exhibition clash kicks off at 8pm and will be televised live.
Manchester United and Liverpool have held their first training sessions in Thailand ahead of their clash in a pre-season exhibition match on Tuesday.
The Manchester United squad arrived at Don Mueang Airport on Sunday and are staying at The Athenee Hotel in Bangkok’s upmarket Pathum Wan district.
New coach Erik ten Hag oversaw team training sessions in hot and humid conditions at STB Academy school on Saturday and Sunday.
Current daytime temperatures in the Thai capital average around 31 degrees Celsius (87.8F) with high humidity of 62 per cent.
Meanwhile, Liverpool arrived at Suvarnabhumi on Sunday and, after taking the wrong coach from the airport, checked in at The St Regis Bangkok just a block away from United’s hotel.
The team held a private training session on Sunday evening at Alpine Football Camp Training Bangkok.
Public training sessions for both teams will be held on Monday at Rajamangala Stadium.
The Manchester United squad will train from 5pm to 6.30pm while Liverpool’s session will be from 7.30pm to 9pm. The training sessions are open to holders of “elite” tickets for Tuesday’s match.
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