UEFA have opened disciplinary proceedings against Liverpool following their supporters’ attack on Manchester City’s team bus on Wednesday.
Glass bottles and flares were among a host of objects thrown at the coachcarrying City’s players and coaching staff as they arrived at Anfield for the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final.
Such was the damage to the vehicle a new bus needed to be sourced to transport the team home following their 3-0 defeat on Merseyside.
Liverpool have since been charged with four breaches of discipline, including throwing objects, acts of damage and crowd disturbances.
City boss Pep Guardiola was left fuming following the incident, blaming local police for not doing more to ensure his side a more peaceful passage into the ground.
“Normally when the police know that is going to happen, they try to avoid it happening. I did not expect that from the Liverpool side, from the people,” he told reporters after just his side’s fourth defeat of the season.
“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.”
Both Liverpool and their manager Jurgen Klopp apologised for the incident – which saw two police officers suffer injuries – prior to kick-off on what was a raucous evening around Stanley Park.
“The club condemns in the strongest possible terms the scenes which preceded our Champions League quarter-final, which resulted in damage being inflicted on the Manchester City team bus during their arrival at Anfield,” a Liverpool statement read.
“We apologise unreservedly to Pep Guardiola, his players, staff and officials caught up in the incident.”
UEFA’s Control, Ethics and Disciplinary body will deal with the case on 31 May.
