There was mayhem in the stands at Saturday night’s Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid.
There were accusations that Liverpool fans had overpowered stadium security and entered the Stade de France in Paris without tickets as fans from both teams flocked there.
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Police were unable to block admission through Gate U, and French radio station RMC reported a “serious security concern” as a result.
Journalist Rob Draper warned of a “hazardous crush piling up” as spectators crammed into tight spaces on their way to the stadium, and there were other allegations of badly managed crowds leading up to the venue.
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Even after 30 minutes had passed since the final whistle, small groups of opposing fans were still brawling inside the stadium.
In social media posts made before the game, spectators from both teams can be seen lighting flares and singing outside the stadium in the southern French city.
Just before halftime, tensions inside the Stade Vélodrome erupted in the form of firecrackers, which echoed around the 67,394-person capacity stadium.
A large security presence and a buffer zone were not enough to prevent objects from being thrown by both sets of supporters.
Ten minutes of the Europa League match between Marseille and Galatasaray had to be halted due to fans of the two teams throwing flares and firecrackers at each other at Stade Velodrome.
Thursday’s match ended in a scoreless draw, but fighting continued among rival fans for at least 30 minutes after the final whistle blew. Added Football-Related News
By the end of the first half, objects had been hurled in both directions, despite the fact that security had been beefed up and a buffer zone had been set up between the two sets of fans (about 2,500 away fans and 5,000 Marseille fans).
Both Galatasaray head coach Fatih Terim and Marseille captain Dimitri Payet rushed over to their respective fan bases to try to diffuse the situation. There were still firecrackers going off when the game resumed with eight minutes left in the first half.
As the second half got underway, there were also minor skirmishes between stewards and some Marseille fans. Towards the end of the game, Mbaye Diagne of Galatasaray and William Saliba of Marseille grabbed each other and scuffled along the sideline.
During a recent French league game in Angers, Marseille fans got violent. At last month’s Nice-Marseille game, there was also a big disturbance. The event has been postponed till next month.
On the other hand, during the northern derby between Lens and Lille earlier this month, fans flung ripped-up seats and attempted to attack each other during halftime.
There are often big groups of ultras who travel together when they are in Turkey. When Lyon hosted Besiktas four years ago and when Paris Saint-Germain played Galatasaray two seasons ago, there were brawls before both games.
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We are extremely dismayed that Liverpool fans experienced problems gaining entrance to the stadium and a breach in the security perimeter,” the club stated in a statement. That kind of chaos shouldn’t happen at the greatest event in European football, yet we saw it tonight.
The scenes outside Wembley Stadium were similar to the mayhem that occurred before last year’s European Championship final. Most of the Italian victory might be attributed to the hostile behaviour of English fans seeking to enter their home stadium.
