Gritty United keep their focus to get the job done
THEY stood in solemn silence, just as they had in Manchester a day earlier. Jose Mourinho and his players bowed their heads, remembering the victims of the terrorist atrocity that tore at the heart of their city. Then silence gave way to sporadic applause around the Friends Arena here in Stockholm from both sets of supporters. And then rose a chant. A cry of ‘Manchester, Manchester’ from the English contingent as respect for the dead turned to defiance against those who perpetrate such acts of barbarism. It was not quite what UEFA had planned to precede this showpiece event. But it was honest and it was spontaneous and it was heartfelt. Up in the stands, former United favourite and Manchester lad Phil Neville confessed that it brought a tear to his eye. ‘For me it doesn’t feel right to be here,’ said Neville, a pundit for BBC 5 Live last night. ‘It’s a big night for Manchester United but in reality it is just football. ‘But the players have to be professional. Tonight, play with emotion, play with your heart and do everything you can for those victims that died so tragically on Monday.’ And play they did. For all the outpouring of grief for those who died and were injured at the Manchester Arena on Monday night, this game had to go ahead. Footballers are capable of putting these things to the back of their minds and delivering a result, just as Mourinho’s side did here last night in beating Ajax to win the Europa League. True, it was the worst backdrop imaginable for a game of football. But United are, after all, a club who know what it is like to play European football under the shadow of human tragedy. ‘We tried our best to focus on the game, it is our job,’ said Mourinho before kick-off, and the United manager had a point. ‘We are ready. Not with the same happiness that a great moment like this normally brings. From a professional point of view we are ready.’ That’s not at all to say the sense of loss was not felt around the venue last night. Viewed through the prism of Monday’s horrific events, the messages we have become accustomed to seeing on the flags and banners paraded by United fans seemed hollow, almost inappropriate, although those who unfurled them weren’t to know. ‘We’ll Never Die’ and ‘Meaning of Life’ were just two of the slogans that jarred. Others had come prepared. Outside the stadium, at the Vapiano bar squeezed in between the Mall of Scandinavia and the Friends Arena, a banner draped over the balcony said: ‘United Against Terrorism. Lest We Forget 22.05.17’. As the two teams emerged from the tunnel before kick-off, another was held up by the English fans that read: ‘Manchester — A City United #prayforManchester’. Security here had been on high alert even before Monday’s attack. The 1,250 officers on duty made it one of the biggest operations for any public event held in Sweden, but you wouldn’t have known it. Fans mingled together in the city and inside the stadium. As we walked around the ground, stewards were happy to let two flares, one red one white, send smoke drifting harmlessly into the sunny Stockholm evening. We saw one mounted police officer take a photo of his smiling colleagues on horseback as a memento of the occasion. This was not a night for fear to take hold. It was a night when United won on the pitch. Off it, their fans showed that they will not be beaten either. As the Europa League trophy was lifted into the air, the cries of ‘Manchester, Manchester’ rang out again.