From BZ editors
The Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid threatened to descend into chaos!
The kick-off had to be postponed several times! At 9:37 p.m. it started more than 30 minutes late.
The reason: As several media reported, several hundred Liverpool fans had gained access to the Stade de France without a ticket.
“RMC” journalist Nicolas Pelletier filmed the tumultuous scenes an hour before kick-off!
He reported that the hundreds of Liverpool fans easily passed the first control area in front of the stadium. The police were therefore totally surprised by the crowds at the second zone, Gate U, so that they had to give way.
Hundreds of fans could stream towards the stadium without a ticket!
Twitter also showed fans frantically climbing over fences to get into the stadium.
Shortly before kick-off, however, a sigh of relief: the ticketless fans were caught and taken out of the stadium area.
Nevertheless, the Liverpool block was only sparsely filled fifteen minutes before kick-off. Therefore, Uefa decided: The kick-off will be postponed from 9:00 p.m. to 9:15 p.m.!
An announcement was made in the stadium: “Due to the late arrival of the fans, the game will be kicked off later. More information will be available in 15 minutes at the latest.”
At 9:08 p.m. the next message: Again it was postponed by a quarter of an hour! The organizers are taking action and closing ALL ticket entrances!
On Twitter, a number of fans complained about the Uefa announcement that “arriving too late” was to blame. They had been in front of the stadium for hours!
Declaration of love from Jürgen Klopp to the fans of Liverpool FC before the game Photo: AP
Fans who appeared to have tickets yelled, “Open the gates!” Paris police tweeted, “Don’t force entry!”
At 21.07 Liverpool returned to the pitch to warm up again. Real followed at 9:12 p.m. Four minutes later, both teams went back to the dressing room.
The spectators from around the stadium showed that the police used tear gas to get the action under control.
Spain’s King Felipe was at the stadium on time Photo: Reuters
According to Liverpool coach Jürgen Klopp, there are around 60,000 Liverpool supporters in the metropolis, i.e. two-thirds without a ticket. Paris is big enough for these fans to have a good time, Klopp said.
A total of 6,800 police officers are deployed in the French capital. They should actually prevent the fan storm …
