Behind the scenes, with no fanfare or self-congratulation, Bayern Munich have also become central to how the 1958 disaster is marked outside Manchester.
The shared grief of United and Red Star Belgrade is well known, as are the various forms of generosity put forward by huge clubs such as Real Madrid and Liverpool.
Surreptitiously, Bayern have also proven invaluable allies in the perennial process of commemoration here at United. Far beyond providing the opposition for a series of fundraising friendlies in the years following the crash, Bayern have become increasingly present in the ongoing remembrance.
Hermann Memmel, a member of Bayern’s advisory board who also worked for the city of Munich, approached his club during the 1990s about the idea of permanently recognising the disaster.