Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger believes that the fans of Cologne unworthy noted the return of the team in the European Cup after a quarter-century absence.

The start of the Champions League group round match between Arsenal and Cologne was delayed for an hour due to riots that were arranged at the stadium and its surroundings by visiting fans.

"I can understand the emotions of the fans, whose team was 25 years out of the European Cups," Arsen Venger's official website quotes Arsenal. "But instead of making a holiday, they spoiled the evening for themselves and our fans. I'm a little surprised that the match was played at all, and not postponed to Friday or postponed for a week. Still, in our society, the priority is human security. However, since the police took such a decision - it means that she had the grounds for this ".

On the eve of the match, 20,000 German fans (while 2,900 tickets were allocated to Cologne fans) marched through the streets of London, temporarily paralyzing the movement in the West End. On the way to the stadium, the ultras tried to break through the police cordons, and in the stands of the Emirates, thousands of visiting fans found themselves in sectors with local fans. And if the atmosphere in these sectors was tense, but before the conflicts did not come, then the "legal" fans with tickets to the guest sector, staged a fight with the stewards, trying to break into their seats through sectors for local fans.