FOOTBALL hooligans in Serbia have been caught on camera attacking rival fans with sticks ahead of a big night of Champions League action.
The shocking video shows around 30 Red Star Belgrade thugs storming into a bar full of Manchester City fans and whacking them to the head and body in a brutal assault.
According to people in the area at the time, around 20 Man City fans – who had travelled over to Serbia for the match – were caught up in a big brawl that spilled out onto the streets at 11pm Tuesday evening.
Serbian cops spent the night searching the area for the masked gang responsible for the attacks and continue to patrol the streets in case of a further brawl before tonight’s game.
Many of the fans – thought to be young men – can be seen in clips on X, wearing face masks and with their hoods up to hide their identity as they throw punches and use weapons.
Videos taken from inside the bar show Red Star fans banging on the glass and gesturing those inside to come out and fight.
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Some Man City fans are later shown going toe to toe with the thugs but getting hit by multiple blokes wielding wooden sticks.
In a different clip going around social media, piles of people can be seen fleeing the pub in opposite directions before the video jumps to show three police cars patrolling down the street.
Sirens can be heard screeching through the town of Belgrade as three patrol cars made their way past the now empty street and towards the town centre.
The confrontation was also recorded by the venues security cameras.
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Riot police have been stationed around the stadium ahead of the feisty clash in case of further fighting.
Manchester City fans have been talking about it online since the attack.
In a statement, the club said: “Manchester City FC is concerned by the news of an attack on our travelling fans last night in Belgrade. We are working closely with the local police to provide additional safety advice and support to all fans attending this evening’s match.”
Red Star supporters are often referred to as delije which in English means a brave, strong, tough, or even handsome young man.
The two sides are set to clash tonight on the pitch instead of the streets in the final group stage match of this seasons elite European competition.
Manchester City have breezed past RB Leipzig, Young Boys and Red Star Belgrade this year after winning every match with relative ease.
Red Star on the other hand have faced an awful campaign having only won a single point in five games.
The Serbian SuperLiga front runners are hoping for a win in tonight’s match to keep their hopes alive for a spot in the Europa League.
The blue side of Manchester have had major fan troubles on the road before in the Champions League including after the final last year.
City fans were caught smashing up a cop van and clashing with riot police after completing their historic treble.
Thousands of fans went berserk at the match in Turkey and rocked pubs, bars and fan zones across the UK as City sent Inter Milan packing with an extraordinary 1-0 win in Istanbul.
And just this week Turkey stopped all footie matches indefinitely after a referee was punched to the ground on the pitch by a club president.
Greece also banned fans from top-flight football games for two months after violence erupted between rival volleyball supporters in Athens, severely injuring a police officer.
Meanwhile, France is considering barring away supporters after a fan was stabbed to death ten days ago.
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In January an Italian motorway was closed when rival supporters piled into each other, and a year ago crowds of Croatia’s Dinamo Zagreb fans delivered Nazi salutes in unison on the streets of Milan.
Across the continent, authorities are struggling to control hooliganism — often aimed at travelling English fans, who receive massive police protection as continental supporters try to test their reputation for street brawling.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
