Liverpool fans cause chaos at Champions League final

The Champions League final between Real Madrid and Liverpool was put in jeopardy of being postponed due to some disturbing scenes outside the gates. In the end, the kick-off was delayed by almost 40 minutes after hoards of Liverpool fans were stuck outside the Stade de France.

The organisers initially announced that the delay was due to the "late arrival of fans," but the fact of the matter was, the Liverpool side of the stadium remained half-empty by 9:00 PM CET because entry had to be restricted at the gates where Liverpool fans were designated to enter. Apparently, thousands of ticketless Liverpool fans were forcing their way into the venue, pushing organisers to tighten security.

An estimated number of over 40,000 Liverpool fans without tickets descended upon Paris. They joined the pre-match festivities at the fan zone, but then caused problems for the fans who had tickets. First, transportation to the stadium at Saint-Denis became difficult, with the city's metro system unable to cope with the sheer number of fans that were all heading to watch the final.

Then, at the venue itself, those with tickets were forced to go through over an hour of security checks because the fans who didn't have tickets were making things extremely difficult for the organisers. Unfortunately, the police had no choice but to tighten security, therefore affecting even the Liverpool fans who legitimately held tickets for the game.

The problem was evidently coming from the Liverpool side, with the other half of the stadium already full of white-clad Real Madrid fans almost two hours before kick-off.

The players were forced to come back out to warm up while they waited for more Liverpool fans to finally make it inside. An initial delay of 15 minutes was pushed to 30, and then again to almost 40 minutes. The Real Madrid fans had been waiting for more than two hours by then, and they were clearly unhappy when they had to sit through a performance by singer Camila Cabello before the match finally got underway.

The scenes outside were truly embarrassing, with many Liverpool fans accusing French police of a heavy-handed approach towards the fans. However, some pointed out that the problem arose from the fans' unruly behaviour.

The delay almost ate up the amount of time for the entire first half, and it remains to be seen if UEFA will be investigating the matter and if any sanctions will be imposed upon Liverpool or the host stadium. Incidentally, the Liverpool team bus did not escape the chaos either. They were themselves delayed outside the gates as the bus had trouble navigating past the crowd of supporters.

In the end, Real Madrid won the championship and dozens of riot police were visibly present on the Liverpool side as the organisers attempted to prevent any clashes between fans inside the stadium.