Stade de France

2022 - 5 - 28

Post cover — Image courtesy of "UEFA.com"

The Stade de France: a stage suited to champions (UEFA.com)

The breath-taking Stade de France has hosted some of the biggest events in world sport since a certain Zinédine Zidane got the ball rolling in 1998.

The first final between two teams from the same nation could hardly have merited a grander stage. The Stade de France had been built to serve as the showpiece venue of the FIFA World Cup later that year, and the fans present that cold January night were given a first glimpse of an arena worthy of staging the world’s biggest sporting events. And it was on this same pitch that Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively won the Stade de France’s two previous Champions League finals.

Kickoff delayed in CL final; fan violence outside stadium (The Washington Post)

Kickoff in the Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid was delayed by 15 minutes on Saturday amid fan violence outside the Stade de France ...

Real Madrid finished second in La Liga last season to qualify for the Champions League. It topped Group D with five wins and one loss. It won all six of its Champions League group-stage matches and then beat Inter Milan, Benfica and Villarreal in the knockout round to advance to the final. (Scottish club Celtic in 1966-67 became the only team to achieve a quadruple of major European trophies). The governing body initially described the reason for the delay to late-arriving fans, but updated the attribution as a “security issue.” Madrid rode a second-place finish in Spain’s La Liga, followed by a 5-1 record in the group-stage and knockout wins over Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Manchester City, to the final. Two of the top clubs in European soccer renew acquaintances Saturday in Saint-Denis, France, as Liverpool meets Real Madrid for the UEFA Champions League crown.

Champions League final start delayed over Paris crowd issues (USA TODAY)

Kickoff in the Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid was delayed by at least 30 minutes on...

There were many instances of fans breaking through security and attempting to get into the stadium. It was greeted by jeers inside the stadium, given those fans had already endured long queues. One policeman collapsed to the ground and had to be helped by other officers.

Liverpool vs Real Madrid delayed after problems outside Stade de ... (Sky Sports)

Liverpool and Real Madrid are playing in the Champions League final in the Stade de France; fans faced long queues to get into the stadium; kick-off was ...

"I have seen quite a few fans trying to trick their way past security guards and the policemen and all of those supporters. "We had a situation at the fan park this afternoon where some Liverpool fans were queuing up for three hours to get into a free event. There are so many police, riot police and security guards here and their mindset has been to stop anybody without a ticket getting anywhere near the stadium. "The situation here is a bit of a strange one. "I can only say from what I've seen as an eyewitness myself, but I haven't seen any Liverpool supporters whatsoever causing any problem at all. They don't want anybody near the stadium if they don't have tickets. "From what I've seen, even at the Liverpool fan park, the French police's attitude has been very heavy-handed with absolutely zero tolerance. Sky Sports presenter Kelly Cates, attending the final as a supporter, had also tweeted: "Absolutely shambolic at the Stade de France. No way in, no way of knowing which way to go. "In the last few minutes, me and three of my crew were tear-gassed for no reason whatsoever by the French police. The agency reported seeing two fans - one wearing Liverpool attire - wrestled to the ground by stewards and bundled out of the gates. I think what has happened is a lot of people have turned up at the stadium without tickets. It has the potential to be very dangerous."

'Dangerous' and 'chaotic' scenes outside Stade de France ahead of ... (Eurosport.com)

There was chaos before kick-off at the Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid on Saturday night.

Champions League Champions League Champions League

Footage of Liverpool fans outside of Stade de France is pure chaos ... (FanSided)

The Champions League Final was delayed due to issues with getting Liverpool fans into Stade de France, and the scene was absolute chaos.

Images and footage of Liverpool fans stuck outside of Stade de France were absolute chaos and truly disheartening. UEFA claimed that the delay was due to late-arriving Liverpool fans, but that story quickly fell apart once word from outside started to trickle in. His eyes were streaming.

Champions League final kick-off delayed amid crowd congestion ... (ESPN)

The Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid in Paris was delayed on Saturday amid crowd congestion outside the Stade de France.

They forced their way through the first filter. UEFA announced the delay at 8:46 p.m. CET before saying that a further announcement would be made within a maximum of 15 minutes. The screening at the Stade de France is watertight.

2022 Champions League final delayed over security issues with ... (CBSSports.com)

Thousands of Liverpool fans found themselves stuck in queues outside the Stade de France.

After a lengthy pursuit of justice, Liverpool fans subjected to incorrect slurs and accusations that they were at fault for the disaster were found to bear no responsibility for the events. At the 1989 FA Cup semifinal between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, 96 fans were killed in a crush at the Leppings Lane end of Hillsborough, another subsequently died from the injuries. As the original game time approached, lines at Gate U began to clear but hundreds of fans remained at Gates X and Y still unable to get into the stadium.

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