British police have launched an investigation to identify those responsible for an attack on Manchester City’s team bus before their Champions League quarter-final against Liverpool at Anfield. Missiles were thrown at the vehicle as it arrived at the stadium on Wednesday ahead of the first leg at Anfield, which Liverpool won 3-0.
Manchester City coach Manel Estiarte posted footage of the attack on Instagram. The sound of objects striking the vehicle can be heard in the video, filmed from inside the bus as it drives slowly towards the stadium.
His post is accompanied by the comments: “No words. Unacceptable.” Match commander superintendent Paul White said police were aware of the damage caused to the Manchester City bus.
“Thankfully, no one on the bus was injured, but injuries were caused to two of our officers when projectiles were thrown towards the bus,” he said. “The officers and stewards are there to protect the public and keep them safe. This behaviour by a number of people who threw bottles, cans and pyrotechnics towards the bus is completely unacceptable and we will conduct enquiries to identify who was responsible and bring them to justice. We worked very closely with both clubs to ensure the safety of the public and the teams themselves, and it is disappointing to see that a number of people behaved in this appalling way.”
Liverpool released a statement before the match apologising to City over the incident, saying they would cooperate with the authorities to identify those responsible. Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola questioned the organisation of his side’s arrival at Anfield ahead of the highly charged match.
“I didn’t expect that,” he said after the game. “I am new here. Normally when the police know that is going to happen, they try to avoid it happening. The bus is destroyed. I didn’t expect that a club as prestigious as Liverpool would do these kind of things. Of course, it is not Liverpool, it is the people. It was not only one, only two, only three. Hopefully it doesn’t happen again.”
European football’s governing body UEFA could take action even though the incident took place in the streets surrounding Anfield.
