© EuroFootball.com
Hundreds of police officers and football fans flocked to the center of Turin today, waiting for the second leg of the UEFA Champions League round of 16 matches between the local Italian team and the visiting English team. The city authorities and law enforcement officers do not hide their fears of possible mass riots and other disturbances among the fans.
Although both clubs are not mortal enemies, the tragedy that occurred at the Heysel Stadium several decades ago, when 39 fans (mostly Italians) from both teams died in a mass brawl, raises great concern about the possible retaliation by Juventus fans. However, today in Turin, only a small group of English club fans were walking around, not hiding their team's traditional red shirts and other attributes. Most of the English fans are staying in nearby cities and will go straight to the stadium.
It is worth mentioning that a considerable number of reserved tickets for Liverpool fans remained unsold. One reason for this is the statements by Juventus fans that they will seek revenge ("vendetta" in Italian) regardless of the friendly attitude of Liverpool fans in the first leg in England.
Although city officials and the mass media urge Turin fans to remain calm and not provoke their opponents' fans, Juventus fan websites were filled with threatening statements towards the English. By the way, yesterday in a bar in the city, Juventus fans easily injured one Liverpool fan. After this incident, the Italian police detained eight suspected Italians.
According to unofficial data, there will be about 1,100 police officers in Turin, guarding the stadium and its vicinity. Today's match will start at 21:45 Lithuanian time and will be broadcast live on Tango TV.
