In the wake of Marseille’s devastating defeat to Atletico Madrid, scores of football hooligans, who hadn’t made it to Lyon to watch the final, took to streets of their home cities in violent protest over the outcome of the match. Multiple pictures and videos uploaded on Twitter show crowds of fans trading blows, setting fire to trash bins and cars, and smashing windows of surrounding shops.
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In some places, police decisively advanced on the Marseille supporters; according to media, they resorted to tear gas and batons to finally restore calm by the early hours of Thursday.
Although detentions predominantly occurred in Marseille, there are reports that Lyon locals also engaged in street fighting, which left many of them heavily bruised.
In the run-up to last night’s rampage, hordes of supporters fought in the stands of the 59,000-seat Groupama Stadium in Lyon and fired off flares.
Many social media users pointed to the enhanced security deployed to Lyon ahead of the landmark final.
Last night, Spain’s Atletico Madrid resoundingly beat Marseille 3-0 in Lyon to win the UEFA Europa League for the third time, with Antoine Griezmann, French football star, scoring twice. The latter has naturally sparked an emotional reaction on Twitter: