Conference League clash suspended as police evacuate entire away stand after shameful scenes
POLICE have evacuated away yobs after a Conference League clash was suspended.
The tie between NK Olimpija Ljubljana and HNK Rijeka was brought to a halt after flares were thrown into the home stands.
The match was stopped in the 65th minute, and the players were taken into the dressing rooms.
Reports online have claimed that the Rijeka hooligans started to fight with police who were confronting them.
The yobs were then escorted out of the Stožice Stadium in Slovenia.
The suspension of the match lasted 26 minutes and was restarted with the away stand empty of fans.
Fans slammed the actions of the away hooligans as they reacted on social media.
One posted: “Just call off the game.”
A second wrote: “This is the biggest disaster in Croatian football since I can remember. Shame.”
A third commented: “Croatia should be banned from football.”
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A fourth said: “Those idiots have acted shamefully.”
Another added: “I hope those supporters that were near the flares are okay.”
The incident did little to dampen the joy of the Olimpija supporters.
Their team has romped into a 5-0 lead inside the first half with the score 6-1 on aggregate.
Raul Florucz opened the scoring in the 2nd minute before goals from Thalisson Charles Alves Moreira (x2), Dino Kojic and Perdo Lucas put the result to bed.
Elsewhere in the competition, Chelsea took on Swiss side Servette in the second leg of their play-off tie.
The Blues were forced to stream the match for free for their supporters due to a website error.
New Champions League format
Each club will play eight matches in the opening phase – against seeded opposition, in a system designed to ensure that teams play opponents of similar difficulty.
The top eight teams in the “final” table will automatically go through to the last 16, where they will be joined by the eight play-off winners of ties between the sides placed ninth to 24th in the table.
Despite there being just eight matches in the opening phase, European matches will be spread over 10 midweek slots.
The new Champions League format also sees the implication of two additional qualifying spots.
They will be awarded to the nations that are top of the “country coefficient” chart each season.