Aston Villa has accused Legia Warsaw of fueling hooligan violence after three police officers were injured following an attack by Polish thugs ahead of their Europa Conference League match.
Legia fans were banned from entering Villa Park after clashing with police and throwing fireworks before the match. Footage showed missiles being fired into the stadium from outside the ground midway through the first half of Villa’s 2-1 win; some Legia fans were trying to enter the ground from behind the North Stand.
Visiting fans had been issued 1,000 tickets for the match after ticket allocations were reduced from 1,700 on police and security advice. Dutch police officers were injured in Legia’s group match against AZ Alkmaar last month, resulting in UEFA banning the club’s fans from traveling to Mostar for their match against HŠK Zrinjski. Another 1,000 fans were expected to arrive at Villa Park without tickets.
Legia published a statement on their official website accusing Villa of refusing to allocate tickets, but the Premier League club hit back and said the Polish side had not co-operated with them over the threat of fans coming to Villa Park without tickets.
Villa’s statement said: “Aston Villa can confirm that no away fans are permitted to enter Villa Park on the advice of West Midlands Police following large scale disorder outside the stadium caused by visiting fans.
“UK security authorities, UEFA and Aston Villa advised on 2 November that the ticket allocation for away fans for this match would be reduced to 1,002 on the advice of security authorities as a result of the large-scale disturbance previously caused by Legia fans at AZ Alkmaar.” moon.
“Despite numerous requests for cooperation regarding Legia Warsaw’s traveling fans, especially in the last two days, there has been no assistance from the visiting club regarding the serious security issue for away fans attending Villa Park. The club has repeatedly, including this morning, raised concerns with UEFA and all relevant authorities with Legia that away fans without tickets were attempting to travel to Villa Park.
“About an hour before kick-off, Legia fans engaged in planned and systematic acts of violence against West Midlands Police officers, following which a decision was taken by West Midlands Police to exclude all Legia fans.”
Legia accused Villa of making the situation worse through its stance on tickets, saying: “Aston Villa refuses to allocate tickets to away fans in accordance with UEFA regulations for a UEFA Europa Conference League match.
“Rather than reducing potential pre-match tensions, the restrictive measures implemented by Aston Villa FC as the host club unnecessarily exacerbate the atmosphere. In our view, such measures are counterproductive and unfounded.”
Professor Clifford Stott, an expert on crowd psychology and football hooliganism, said the scenes at Villa Park were “the most serious disorder I have ever witnessed in a UEFA competition”.
“I cannot understand how UEFA failed to take action,” he added.
Legia owner and president Dariusz Mioduski had already decided to boycott the match, and it is thought that some Legia managers left at half-time.
Neither Villa manager Unai Emery nor Legia coach Kosta Runjaic commented on the off-field attendance issue.
Runjaic said: “We have great fans. We can always count on them.”
However, he said it would be ‘useful’ for his team’s fans to come to the field.
He added: “The atmosphere in the stadium overall would be much better.”
Emery’s enduring love affair with European football continues
Aston Villa 2 Legia Warsaw 1
The Spanish manager has guided Aston Villa to the knockout stages of the Europa Conference League, taking just one point from their final group game against Zrinjski Mostar this month to ensure top spot and a direct place in the last 16. competition.
What a difference a year makes.
Emery took charge of Villa Park just over 12 months ago following the sacking of Steven Gerrard. The former Arsenal manager was clearly focused on the seemingly unlikely goal of getting Villa into Europe for the first time in 13 years.
Emery’s face lights up at the mention of participating in such competitions. After all, this is a man who has three Europa League trophies to his name since his time in Sevilla. Despite losing to Legia Warsaw in their opening group game in Poland, Villa will be able to chart a clear path if they do what they need to do against HŠK Zrinjski Mostar in Bosnia.
Once the row over Polish fans outside Villa Park was over on the night, Emery’s side were able to focus on what was needed.
After an excellent start just three minutes later, Villa stumbled when Moussa Diaby latched on to a Youri Tielemans ball and decisively drove the ball in with his left foot. The mistake of Boubacar Kamara, who made a blind pass due to lack of concentration, allowed Ernest Muci to equalize.
After the break, Legia hit the crossbar with Gil Dias’ header but Villa then took control. It was an unlikely hero, with Spanish left-back Alex Moreno putting the home team ahead, making his first appearance of the season after a knee injury and scoring his first goal for the club.
Douglas Luiz’s free kick was met by Moreno, who scored with a magnificent volley from inside the six-yard box. Var had an offside check but nothing could spoil Moreno’s moment.
Villa could have secured top spot if they had won by two clear goals and substitute Leon Bailey almost did it. Goalkeeper Robins Olsen, who was playing in place of the rested Emi Martinez, found Bailey with a long ball on the first route, but his lob hit the underside of the crossbar and bounced onto the line.
The only downside of the night for the team was the absence of top scorer Ollie Watkins, who missed the match due to pain in training.
Emery does not know whether the England striker will be fit to face Bournemouth on Sunday and will assess his fitness.
But the Villa manager knows the next stage of his European journey is almost complete.
He said: “I’m really happy. While preparing for the match, we were thinking of showing how much we had improved. We played well, we are progressing. We feel stronger and want to finish first in the group.
We are now very close to this and we want to finish these matches by winning in Mostar.
“Alex is back, Jacob Ramsey has also gained more minutes, we are building and learning.
“This competition is very important because it is a way to win the cup and get into Europe next season, but also a way to get injured players back into a good rhythm.”
On Watkins’ absence, Emery added: “He wasn’t available. He felt something, I don’t think it was important, but we decided not to take the risk.
“I don’t know at the moment but we’ll test tomorrow and Saturday and see how he is, but hopefully yes.”