What should have been a showpiece occasion will instead carry a sombre tone, with players joining together for a pre-match minute's silence in memory of the 22 people killed at Manchester Arena on Monday.
"It should be one big celebration, but when something like this happens two days before, the fact we've been discussing it just goes to show the impact," Ajax coach Peter Bosz told his pre-game media conference in Stockholm.
"It is a match that Manchester wants to win, that we want to win and that we are going to try to win. But there is a shadow hanging over this final."
United cancelled their own pre-match press conference, with their only public appearance a solemn walk around the Friends Arena pitch as evening descended over the Swedish capital on Tuesday.
