Van Gaal Offers Support For Paris

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal hopes the playing of the French national anthem before all Barclays Premier League matches this weekend will give "force and strength" to the people of Paris.

A choral version of La Marseillaise will be played after the coin toss at each game, with Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore describing it as an act of "solidarity and remembrance" following the attacks in the French capital last Friday.

Van Gaal said: "As a member of the sport of football, we cannot do much [to remember the victims], but we can support it symbolically and I think this is a nice thing for the French people, for the victims and for their relatives. I think it can give them force and strength to survive."

Like his captain Wayne Rooney, the Reds boss has spoken to Anthony Martial, Morgan Schneiderlin and Bastian Schweinsteiger, who were caught up in the attacks while playing in the international friendly between France and Germany at the Stade de France.

"What they told me is private but we have communicated, of course," van Gaal said. "I think, for every human being in this world, it is a big blow. I don't think I have to mention what our discussions were.

"Martial cannot play because he is injured, but Schweinsteiger and Schneiderlin can play if we don't take into account this event and what has happened."