First the kick-off was delayed by 15 minutes and then two more times. The organizers initially stated safety reasons on the scoreboard, after which it was said that it was due to the “delayed arrival of fans”.
Chaotic scenes at the entrance
This enraged numerous Liverpool supporters, who reported on social media that they had been waiting in front of the stadium for a long time. Pictures show sometimes chaotic scenes at the entrance and long queues around the arena.
“I’m not sure it would be possible to organize an event any worse, even if you tried. Absolutely chaotic and dangerous,” tweeted English football legend Gary Lineker to UEFA. He described the reason for the delay as a late arrival of the fans as “bullshit”.
“The organization around and in the stadium is not only unworthy of a Champions League final,” said former professional footballer Marvin Matip, brother of Liverpool’s Joel Matip, on Sky. “Using tear gas in areas with children and bystander fans is dangerous to the public.”
Paris police tweeted in French, English and Spanish that fans should not try to force entry. Home Secretary Gérald Darmanin wrote on Twitter: “Thousands of British ‘fans’ forced entry without tickets or with false tickets, sometimes attacking law enforcement.” The AP news agency reported that there had been a number of incidents where fans apparently tried to gain entry without tickets.
Many Liverpool supporters were not in the stands when the game was originally scheduled to kick off at 9 p.m., but there were still a few gaps when the game kicked off more than half an hour later. The Real Madrid fan areas, on the other hand, were well filled early on.
The teams came out of the dressing room shortly after 9:00 p.m. and warmed up a second time. The opening ceremony started at 9:23 p.m., accompanied by a loud whistling concert from the supporters. Real won the final 1-0.
The final was moved from St. Petersburg to France because of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. There were also problems with admission to London’s Wembley Stadium at the final of the European Championship last year.