Riot police fired tear gas and pepper spray at Liverpool fans who were forced to endure long waits to reach the Champions League final against Real Madrid as chaos erupted in front of the Stade de France in Paris.
UEFA and French authorities on Saturday blamed the crowd on the turnstiles for trying to gain access to the stadium with false tickets.
The match was delayed for 37 minutes and began when security guards were still struggling with the influx of angry fans at the Stade de France. Liverpool eventually lost 1-0 to Real Madrid.
UEFA said thousands of fans without tickets were trying to enter the French national stadium with more than 80,000 seats, but did not identify where they were from.
Angry Liverpool fans lined up as they hung on the railings and heard shouts, “Let us in. We have tickets.”
Liverpool Football Club demanded a formal investigation.
“We are very disappointed with the problems entering the stadium and the breakdown of the safety perimeter that Liverpool fans were facing,” the club said in a statement. “This is the best match in European football and fans should not experience the scenes we witnessed tonight.”
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said the stadium commissioners had been attacked by fans who were forced in without tickets or with fake tickets.
French Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra tweeted: “Violence has no place in stadiums.”
There was anger in the Liverpool squad after losing the final.
“Virtually all of our families were affected,” said Liverpool defender Andy Robertson. “Obviously my tickets were through the club and somehow someone told one of my teammates that I had a fake ticket, which I can assure you was definitely not because it was obviously through me. .
“Then, obviously, the French police decided to throw tear gas at fans and families. It has not been well organized.”
Liverpool supporter Colm Lacey said he saw “children crying, people trapped” outside the entrances.
“People started jumping their tails, then they opened the door and then there was a push,” Lacey said.
The scenes were reminiscent of the chaos outside Wembley Stadium before last year’s European Championship final. This was largely due to the fact that English fans were aggressively trying to enter his stadium for the match that Italy won.