Manchester United to debut first ‘tifo’ banner before Lyon game

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Man United first tifo banner before Lyon game

Manchester United is set to debut its first-ever ‘tifo’ banner ahead of their big game against Olympique Lyonnais on Thursday night.

The Red Devils are staring down their biggest moment of the season – arguably one of their biggest in some time – as they must beat Lyon in the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final to advance in the competition, which is their only chance of silverware this year.

It’s been a tough start for new manager Ruben Amorim since he arrived at Old Trafford, with Jim Ratcliffe and the INEOS ownership group having been amidst turbulent times pretty much ever since they took up a minority stake in the club.

All that being said, and with Man United’s financial obstacles now well-publicised by the co-owner himself, winning the tournament and therefore securing a shot at Champions League football next season is crucial to how their ambitious rebuild and, notably, stadium redevelopment plans pan out.

With that in mind, the club are looking to be bolder than ever when it comes to creating an atmosphere for the crucial knockout fixture, announcing that a tifo banner will be unveiled inside the stadium for the first time in the club’s history.

For any of those still unclear on what a tifo is, they are large, colourful, choreographed displays typically organised by the supporters themselves, which spotlight things like club badges, legendary players, insignias, messages and more.

Popular in various other parts of the continent and beyond, especially in the likes of Italy (where the trend first started) and Germany, as well as southern and eastern Europe, this particular part of global football fan culture hasn’t really made it over to the Premier League just yet.

Not too far away from the kinds of big banners that are commonplace throughout most football, only even more massive and usually much intricate in shape, design and detail, the club has confirmed their inaugural attempt at a United tifo will be shown in front of the Sir Alex Ferguson Stand.

As for what it’s going to look like, the specifics are being kept under wraps for now, but the club are said to have worked with fan representatives closely on the project before being shared with captain Bruno Fernandes to get his seal of approval. 

The flag shown during this year’s Munich Disaster memorial observation. (Credit: The Manc Group)

For now, the only details revealed are that “the ‘tifo’ will be raised from the ground to the roof, in front of the halfway line, creating a spectacular moment ahead of kick-off in M16.”

There have been plenty of big banner moments – both in protest and to mark important memorials – already this season, but this promises to be a whole different kettle of fish for the club.

During their most recent Europa League fixture, those up in the stands even got to witness Old Trafford putting on pyrotechnics for the first time, though it’s safe to say they didn’t quite nail the concept.

In fact, it looks like the club itself would be the first to admit it, as they also confirmed that the pre-match pageantry will include “red-and-white pyrotechnics will also appear adjacent to the banner, in a larger display than the one seen before the win over Real Sociedad in the previous round.”

Tifos are all well and good, but they need backing up with results, and it goes without saying that this match could define not just Man United‘s season but work wonders for Amorim’s future moving forward. This is the sort of standard they’re up against…

Ultras do not mess about when it comes to this kind of stuff.

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Featured Images — The Manc Group