from
www.metro.co.uk
At least seven Manchester United fans were injured after 'all hell broke loose' during their Champions League match with Roma last night.
Violence flared when opposing fans taunted each other following a Roma goal by banging the partition and throwing bottles at each other.
Italian police clad in riot gear moved into the crowd where two St George's flags were seen, and hit fans with batons. Supporters responded by throwing seats at police, witnesses said.
One fan was seen lying in the stands with blood over his face.
BBC Five Live commentator Alan Green, who witnessed the trouble, said: 'United fans appeared to charge the police and the police went in.
'It got pretty vicious. It is very, very nasty inside this ground now.' A Manchester United fan said: 'The police got involved with a baton charge and all hell broke loose. You had seats being thrown at the police.
'Most of the missiles being thrown are bottles which are being sold inside the ground.
'The number of riot police has probably tripled. You really don't know what is going to happen next.'
Before the game, held in Rome, around 300 English fans faced off with local supporters in skirmishes on the way to the Olympic Stadium.
Tensions were high following a violence warning that United issued to the 4,500 English fans travelling to the game – a warning some Italians saw as inflammatory.
The alert, posted on United's website earlier this week, instructed fans to avoid parts of the city and not to use the metro because 'there is a real danger of being attacked by the “Ultra” fans of AS Roma'.
The game finished 2-1 to Roma. The violence is the second time this season United fans have been involved in clashes with police in Europe.
In January, fans who travelled to watch United play Lille at the Stade Felix-Bollaert stadium in France were beaten after climbing out of overcrowded fenced-in stands, claiming they feared a Hillsborough-type disaster.
French police hit them with batons, used tear gas and arrested nine, claiming they were 'uncontrolled'.