Normalcy returns to Old Trafford in Man United's 3-1 win over Bournemouth

Soccer was played. And to that extent, things were normal at Old Trafford on Tuesday as Manchester United finished up its Premier League season against Bournemouth with a forgettable 3-1 win that cemented fifth place.

And the commoditization of soccer, of course, continued apace. This time around, and in a latest affront to the sensibilities of traditionalists, a bunch of kids were painted blue to promote a movie.

But other than that, everything was different. Everything felt different, anyway. For one, the game was played two days later than it was supposed to be, after the initial fixture – falling on the Premier League's simultaneous Sunday finale when all 20 teams are supposed to play at the same time on the same day – was called off because of a bomb threat. And also, the stadium was half empty, something that never happens at Old Trafford.

This was understandable. Even though Sunday's ticket-holders had been refunded the cost of their seats yet could still return for free, it isn't easy to pack a mid-week stadium with 48 hours' notice – not even for the Red Devils. Then there's the fear factor. As it turned out, the fake but very, life-like bomb that had been found was accidentally left behind by a contractor staging a drill for bomb-sniffing dogs. But the whole episode was unsettling nonetheless.

Since the contractor was allowed in to conduct this exercise, no security was actually breached. Yet coming so close in the wake of the terror attacks in Paris back in November, when the Stade de France was targeted by three suicide bombers (although none of them made it into the stadium), the whole episode was deeply unsettling.

Because, even though nothing bad actually happened, it reminded us that it's so very hard to keep tens of thousands of people safe when they're brought together in a relatively small space. Especially when they enter and exit that space very quickly. And even more so when that space has a cultural relevance and resonance that the Western world's enemies despise.

Justified or not, it put people on guard.

Which brings us back to France, where this summer's European Championships will both start and end in the Stade de France. Following months of terrorist plots in Northern Europe, both successful and foiled, and the predictable political demagoguery that followed it, that part of the world is on edge and will now host a mega-event that's an obvious target.

This is the way we live now in this age of terror, and soccer is hardly immune.

Leander Schaerlaeckens is a soccer columnist for Yahoo Sports. Follow him on Twitter @LeanderAlphabet.

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