STOCKHOLM (AP) – The victims of a deadly bomb attack were in the “minds and hearts” of the Manchester United squad that flew to Stockholm for the Europa League final, Jose Mourinho said Tuesday.
The club’s players and coaching staff observed a minute’s silence at a morning training session, a day after at least 22 people were killed when an apparent suicide bomber attacked an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester as the performance ended Monday.
“We cannot take out of our minds and our hearts the victims and their families,” said Mourinho, the United manager who lives in a hotel near the concert venue. “We have a job to do and we will fly to Sweden to do that job. It is a pity we cannot fly with the happiness that we always have before a big game.”
Mourinho’s scheduled news conference later in the day at the Friends Arena in Stockholm was canceled at the club’s request, European soccer’s governing body said. The final against Ajax is on Wednesday.
UEFA also said it has “no specific intelligence” that the game will be a target, with security already intensified following a deadly truck attack in the Swedish capital last month.