Manchester United dedicated Wednesday’s Europa League victory to the victims of Monday’s attack in the city, as the club made tributes in their memory.
United’s 2-0 win over Ajax in Stockholm came two days after 22 people were killed by a suicide bomber following a concert at Manchester Arena.
The club tweeted a photo of a banner reading: “Manchester – A City United.”
United manager Jose Mourinho said: “If we could, we would change obviously the people’s lives for this cup.”
Manchester-born striker Marcus Rashford said the win was “for you Manchester,” while the world’s most expensive player Paul Pogba said: “We played for the people who died.”
Captain Wayne Rooney encouraged people to donate to help the families of the victims; Juan Mata said the players had “focused on the game to win and to lift the spirit of the town at least for some hours – and we feel proud of that” and midfielder Ander Herrera said: “I want to dedicate this trophy to the victims.”
He added: “What happened two days ago was horrible. Yesterday morning we were devastated. It was difficult to train but the manager told us the only thing we could do is win this for them, and that is what we have done.
“We are just football players but we have an audience so we want to work together for a normal world. This happened in Manchester but everywhere we want to see a united world and fight for peace.”