Manchester United's team bus began to edge away from Stockholm's Friends Arena at 12:50 a.m. on Thursday morning, the sound of the engine mixed with banging on the windows and the muted cheers of footballers singing in celebration of their Europa League final victory.
A steward told a bystander that under no circumstances should a photograph be taken of the vehicle, which had been camouflaged in red, white and black and featured the Manchester United badge with "Going Holm" written on the front, so as not to attract attention. Security is rightly high at football matches, but common sense should also prevail.
Paul Pogba was last to get on board, dancing toward the bus as others walked, making noises and whooping when others had spoken words. The French midfielder was shadowed by a burly security guard, who stood nearly as tall as the man who scored United's first goal in their 2-0 win.
The players had spent the previous hour making their way from the dressing room to the coach, ambling past a long line of waiting journalists and showing varying degrees of enthusiasm to talk to them. Wayne Rooney, for example, stopped and then dropped the clearest hints yet to British journalists that he will leave Old Trafford.
Man of the match Ander Herrera was about to speed his way to the bus when he realised he'd walked past one of Spain's biggest radio stations. Radio is important in his homeland and he backtracked. On Thursday, Catalan newspaper Sport led with the story that incoming Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde wants to sign Herrera. The pair worked together at Athletic Bilbao and Herrera rates Valverde higher than any coach he's worked with, but the midfielder has absolutely no intention of leaving Old Trafford.
Juan Mata shook hands with as many people as possible, while Marouane Fellaini talked in French to Belgian journalists and Matteo Darmian gave quotes to fellow Italians. Jose Mourinho, meanwhile, hugged compatriots and winked at anyone he knew, who caught his eye. United's manager was buzzing and far more relaxed than he can sometimes appear.
Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard, a double act of squeals and smiles, didn't stop but were prolific on their own social platforms. And Antonio Valencia, United's best player this season but a man who tries not to do any media at all, walked as close to the wall away from the journalists as possible; perhaps he knew that a second contract extension in five months -- this time until 2019 with the option of a further year -- was in the offing and didn't trust himself to keep the news a secret.
Another who says little is David De Gea, who usually enforces his own media ban. You sense the brilliant goalkeeper would rather eat a plate of sawdust rather than speak to journalists, but he too was all smiles as he left, perhaps for the last time as a Manchester United player.
Daley Blind, in demand among Dutch journalists, was required to do a drug test and so avoided dozens of requests. Henrikh Mkhitaryan had been draped in an Armenian flag after the game and was happy to speak to his fellow countrymen, several of whom had themselves been wrapped in those colours in the press box, before jumping up and down and waving them when Mkhitaryan scored United's second goal.
Defenders Chris Smalling and Phil Jones managed to avoid injury on their walk to the bus. The pair's futures at the club are in doubt, not because they're not talented, but because they're injured too often and haven't earned the same level of trust from their manager as have other players.
Talking of the walking wounded, there was also the crutch contingent: Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Luke Shaw, Ashley Young and Marcus Rojo, though the injured Argentine defender's support spent more time being waved in celebration than on the floor.
Assistant manager Rui Faria is not usually encouraged to talk to the media unless his boss is banned from doing so, but even he was happy to converse. United's management team have won three pieces of silverware in their first season in Manchester, but the Europa League was key.
It is the prize that gets the club into the Champions League and the one that should be worth £50 million in TV and prize money next season, plus a £22 million bonus from kit manufacturer Adidas. That increase will be offset by the £28 million that will be paid out to the players as reward for reaching European club football's biggest competition.
Not that any of United's fans were thinking about such numbers as they went back to their own coaches to get taken to the airport for direct flights to Manchester, or made the 15-minute walk to Solna Station for a train into Central Stockholm, where many a bar was full of fellow supporters enjoying the moment.
But for everyone returning to Manchester, from players to club staff to supporters, there was also ongoing awareness that the city they call home has been stunned by tragedy this week, following Monday's terror attack at a music concert, which killed 22 people. United were preparing to depart for Sweden as events unfolded and, in the aftermath of the final and despite the happiness brought about by the result, the players remained aware that, beyond football, lives have been forever affected.
"No-one in Manchester or anywhere deserves this," said goalkeeper Sergio Romero of the atrocity. "We knew when it happened that the Europa League would be a nice prize for the people, although obviously winning doesn't change anything for the families affected. There are families suffering who have lost a mother, a father or a child and football can't change that at all, but all we can do is try and bring a bit of tranquility to the fans."
Rooney's foundation will donate £100,000 to the victims and other players, aware that they are idols to many in the city, have asked privately what they can do to help. United assisted any fan requests and, at short notice, a 17-metre flag was made that carried the message "Manchester - a City United #prayformanchester." After the game, players asked to take a picture in the dressing room with a banner featuring the same message. On Thursday, United announced that they had joined with Manchester City to contribute £1 million into an emergency fund.
Though spirits were high, it was not considered appropriate for the sustained partying that took place after United's previous European triumphs in London, Rotterdam, Barcelona and Moscow to be repeated, but nobody could begrudge the players their success. They did their bit on a terrible week for the city they call home and could feel satisfied with their work as the bus, finally, pulled away and into the Stockholm night.