- Liverpool FC fans lit flares, threw bricks, and trashed the Manchester City team bus so badly it was put out of commission.
- Manchester City players were not fazed by the incident.
- In fact, City midfielder Kevin de Bruyne said it was "a nice feeling."
- Regardless, the police are investigating the incident.
Fans of Liverpool FC gave Manchester City a welcome to remember ahead of their Champions League quarterfinal clash at Anfield on Wednesday evening.
Unfortunately, it was for all the wrong reasons.
As the City team coach approached the stadium, Liverpool fans lit flares, threw bricks, and trashed the bus so badly it was eventually put out of commission, according to The Guardian.
In scenes that would not have looked out of place in a hooligan movie, the City team bus was pelted with hand-held projectiles like beer bottles and flares.
The driver's door was smashed to bits before the bus had even dropped the players off at the stadium.
A photo of the scene is here:
Watch footage of Liverpool's welcome below:
Liverpool apologised to Man City before the match for the damage done to their team bus. This was my view of their arrival at Anfield pic.twitter.com/gG3pZcQLoN
— Dan Roan (@danroan) April 5, 2018
The damage was so bad that it put the bus out of commission.
Here is the bus leaving the stadium after the match kicked off.
Man City's team bus has left Anfield after it was damaged en route into the stadium prior to kick-off. pic.twitter.com/slWf0WRrty
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) April 4, 2018
Liverpool went on to win the game 3-0 thanks to first-half goals from Mohamed Salah, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, and Sadio Mané.
But City refused to blame the loss on the bus attack. "The bus incident had no effect on us," club captain Vincent Kompany is quoted by The Guardian to have said.
Kompany's teammate Kevin de Bruyne even went as far as to say he is "okay" with supporters behaving that way. "I've had it a couple of times for my team and it's a nice feeling," he said.
Regardless, the incident is being investigated by Merseyside Police. Superintendent Paul White told BBC Sport that the force "will conduct enquiries to identify who was responsible and bring them to justice."
UEFA, the body that runs the Champions League, has opened its own disciplinary proceedings as well.
Though Liverpool won the first leg, the club still has to contest the second leg at Manchester City on April 10, before the overall aggregate winner can proceed to the Champions League semifinal.
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