With pride for Manchester

of attacks,” UEFA said in a statement. “But due to tight security arrangements, UEFA urges fans to arrive as early as possible, as detailed checks will be made at the entrances, resulting in potential delays in accessing the stadium.”

Additional measures had already been put in place following the act of terrorism in Stockholm on April 7, when a truck was driven into a flagship department store, killing four shoppers. Outside that same Ahlens store yesterday, the residents of Stockholm were going about their business as usual in the warm sunshine.

The first fans from both clubs were among them, although there was little indication that as many as 20,000 fans are expected to arrive here from Manchester by tonight.

Many of them will not have tickets but they are no longer gate-crashing a party, instead offering solidarity with those lucky enough to get inside the Friends Arena.

It will be a difficult night for United’s players. For all the millions they earn, this is not something any of them, recruited from all over the world, ever signed up for.

Tonight, though, they will return to the same pitch they trudged solemnly around yesterday and become beacons of resilience that represent the whole of Manchester as the world looks on. It is not now about winning or losing – no footballing trinket could provide the smallest amount of solace to those coming to terms with such grief back in Manchester.

But whatever the result, for the sake of both halves of the city, those United players must go out and play football with freedom, bravery and pride.

Main picture: ODD ANDERSEN GRIEF: Ajax hold a minute’s silence while, below, Wembley expressed solidarity after Paris horror VIGILANT: There was a heavy police presence outside the Friends Arena