Ten Hag played major role in historic Man Utd win three years before arriving
Man Utd train ahead of Bayern Munich clash
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has revealed that Erik ten Hag served as major inspiration for arguably his greatest night as Manchester United manager. Solskjaer guided United to a historic win at Paris Saint-Germain in March 2019, and Ten Hag enjoyed a similarly successful week at Ajax.
The Red Devils took a weakened squad to the Parc des Princes amid a desperate injury crisis with little hope of overturning a 2-0 first-leg defeat at Old Trafford.
Solskjaer’s lineup? De Gea, Bailly, Smalling, Lindelof, Shaw, Young, McTominay, Fred, Pereira, Lukaku, Rashford.
His substitutes? Romero, Dalot, Rojo and teenage quartet Garner, Gomes, Chong and Greenwood.
The rest was history. Two first-half strikes from Lukaku gave United a fighting chance. Marcus Rashford’s incredible 94th-minute penalty sent the visitors through to the quarter-finals on away goals.
The odds were stacked against United in Paris, but they became the first team in Champions League and European Cup history, at the 107th time of asking, to overcome a 2-0 or greater home first-leg deficit.
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Ajax – managed by Ten Hag – produced a similar miracle the day before. After suffering a 2-1 home defeat to holders Real Madrid in the first leg, the Eredivisie giants produced a sensational 4-1 triumph at the Bernabeu.
And Solskjaer has given Ten Hag credit, claiming that Ajax performance served as inspiration for United’s young squad to go to Paris and make history.
“We watched Ajax beat Real Madrid the night before, and that gave us hope that another young team could play with no fear against the best,” Solskjaer told The Athletic.
“We didn’t even have time to work on the tactics properly and played a 4-4-2, with the strikers dropping deep. Fred was to play as he played at Shakhtar Donetsk.”
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Solskjaer went on to describe the dressing room scenes after sending PSG packing, admitting it was enough to tempt him to film his players for the only time as United boss.
He continued: “I knew Marcus would score that decisive penalty. I looked at the away fans; they just erupted. My young team had won. Sir Alex Ferguson and Eric Cantona came into the dressing room after the game.
“The players were singing ‘Ole’s at the wheel’. All of them, singing and dancing on the table. What a moment.
“Players who couldn’t really speak English jumping around kicking pizza boxes and singing ‘Ole’s at the wheel’. It felt good. It’s the only time I got my phone out and filmed my players.”
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