Legia Warsaw fans injure three police officers in ugly scenes at Villa Park as Polish supporters are held outside Aston Villa’s ground ahead of Europa Conference League clash
- Aston Villa are hosting Legia Warsaw in the Europa Conference League tonight
- Legia fans have clashed with the police outside Villa Park ahead of kick-off
- Gary O’Neil has reached his last resort over Wolves decisions: It’s All Kicking Off
Three police officers were injured outside Villa Park after missiles were thrown at them by Legia Warsaw fans.
The Europa Conference League tie between Aston Villa and Legia began without any away fans inside the stadium, with the travelling supporters contained in a car park behind the Witton Lane stand after clashing with police.
Mail Sport understands that Legia were unhappy with their reduced allocation after Villa reduced their ticket allocation to just 890 based on advice from the police and Safety Advisory Group.
UEFA rules allow the visiting team five per cent of the stadium’s capacity, which would equal 2,100 tickets at Villa Park.
Birmingham Police tweeted: ‘We’re currently unable to allow away fans into Villa Park following disorder outside the stadium which has seen missiles thrown at officers.
Legia Warsaw fans and police clashed outside Villa Park on Thursday night
Legia fans let off flares as they were penned in by the wall of police officers
Birmingham Police confirmed three officers were injured following the ugly scenes
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‘Three officers have already been injured & a significant policing operation continues. Please avoid Witton Lane where possible.’
In an official statement from Legia, they accused Villa of refusing to allocate tickets to away fans in accordance with UEFA regulations for a UEFA Europa Conference League match.
‘Instead of relieving potential pre-match tensions, Aston Villa FC’s restrictive measures as the host club unnecessarily exacerbate the atmosphere. In our opinion, such measures are counterproductive and baseless.’
Legia supporters made their way towards Villa Park ahead of kick-off, but were met with a barrier and a wall of police officers wearing helmets with visors to protect themselves.
There were no away fans inside Villa Park when the game got underway at 8pm
The fans appeared to grow frustrated and flares were let off as they were penned in by the police.
On the pitch, tonight’s game promises to be an intriguing battle between Group E’s top two sides.
Villa and Legia are level on nine points after four matches, and both teams will be looking to book their place in the knockout stages with a victory.
Legia won the reverse fixture in September as they beat Unai Emery’s men 3-2 in Poland.
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