Rival gangs of English football fans clashed with riot police armed with batons on the streets of Porto today ahead of the hotly anticipated Champions League final.
Supporters of Manchester City and Chelsea fought each other and police by the Douro river in the north-west Portuguese city after a bar stool was hurled back and forth.
Armed with flags adorned with their club crests, English fans flouted social distancing as they threw punches and lit up flares in skirmishes following a day of heavy drinking.
Photos earlier in the day showed hundreds of topless supporters drinking and cheering ahead of the UEFA Champions League final at the Dragao stadium, the home ground of FC Porto.
Up to 16,500 fans will be admitted, with each side allocated 6,000 tickets – with around 2,000 going to UEFA delegates and sponsors – and the rest sold to regular punters in Portugal.
But thousands more fans who do not have tickets will also face the agony of missing the game on TV, as bars in Porto close at 10.30pm on Saturday night as per coronavirus regulations.
Last night Antonio Fonseca, chairman of the Association of Bar Keepers of Historic Porto, said he feared there would be trouble if bars and restaurants closed at that time.
He told Daily Mail: ‘I’m worried about this aspect – if the game goes into extra time and it has penalties like the other night it won’t finish until maybe 10.45, so we face the prospect of owners asking people to leave with the match yet to finish. Who is going to be brave enough to tell these people who have been drinking all day to go?
‘It raises the possibility of violence and aggression and that’s why we asked the local council for an extension but so far we have heard nothing. It’s not going to be easy to ask the English supporters to leave.
‘This situation should have been taken care of. In the past, the Porto authorities met with us but unfortunately, they have not done so. Everything will shut at the same time which means there will be large groups on the streets and the police will have to disperse them quickly.’
Chelsea fan Adrian Garrat, from Dorking, who arrived last night said: ‘What ? The bars shut at 10.30? That’s the first I’ve heard of it. Sounds crazy to me if it goes to extra time and penalties.’
There were shameful scenes along the riverside in Porto city centre as rivals fought after a day of drinking in the sunshine. Several punch ups broke out and police baton charged fans to stop the violence.
Police had banned glasses and bottles and the throwing of beer at rivals did not result in serious injury.
One officer said: ‘The English fans have been drinking all day and some have tried to fight. But we have stopped them. They have been warned they will be jailed if they do not behave. ‘
Supporters have been pictured across the Portuguese city, sipping pints in the Porto sun as Manchester City and Chelsea prepare to square off against one another tomorrow.
Thousands of fans will take day trips on Saturday to the final, and will be escorted to and from the stadium and airport to limit exposure in a Covid-secure bubble.
16,500 tickets have been sold ahead of the first all-English Champions League final for 13 years – but thousands more people have flocked to Porto in the hopes of securing a last-minute seat in the Estádio do Dragão.
The images are in sharp contrast to those that emerged last night, when rival fans clashed at around 10.30pm local time.
Two men traded blows near the escalator entrance to the public transport network – with the others rushing over to intervene.
One of them was left sprawled out in the road as his mates rushed past him to get revenge, as one man is in hospital today in the wake of the fight.
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