Everybody is different so focusing on the job in hand at the Friends Arena this evening may prove easier for some Manchester United players and harder for others.

Some will feel an extra sense of motivation in the wake of the sickening suicide bombing at the Manchester Arena on Monday night that killed 22 and injured many more. Some might try too hard. Some will not allow their concentration to wander and, if anything, be more focused, more committed as they bid to add the Europa League to the League Cup they won in February and, with it, secure Champions League qualification. Some could be distracted; not significantly, not outwardly, but enough to invite the odd lapse, for their game to drop just a crucial per cent or two against Ajax’s energetic, mobile young side. Some will believe that the tragedy, while feeling very close to home, is no excuse not to perform to a high level.

Paul Pogba is not one for excuses. If anyone has had cause to be distracted of late, it is him. It is less than a fortnight since the United midfielder lost his father to a long-term illness. Fassou Antoine was buried in France last week. For most of the season, Pogba has been carrying the knowledge of his dad’s deteriorating health with him into games but kept it well hidden. A private matter for him to deal with in his own way. Because footballers cost and earn so much money, there is often an eagerness to view them like we would robots, and a reluctance or unwillingness to entertain the notion that they will be affected by profound personal circumstances in a way any normal person would. This is amplified when the footballer in question happens to be the world’s most expensive. Yet Pogba is human like the rest of us. It is inconceivable that his football was not affected in some capacity by the situation surrounding his father.