Marseille's travelling contingent were behind some distressing scenes at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium after they took on Spurs on match-day one of the Champions League group stage.
The fans tried to forcibly enter the home end and clash with the Tottenham faithful, with the incident occurring after Spurs won 2-0, while it is also understood they launched missiles and flares in the direction of local supporters. Video footage has since emerged online which showed the Marseille fans tear down a Pride flag that was hung at the corner of the ground.
Spurs fans could do little more than voice their disgust at the conduct of their French counterparts while stewards and police tried to put a halt to the trouble. Former Newcastle and Manchester City star Joey Barton was part of the away end for the clash; although there is no suggestion he was involved in the unsavoury scenes.
Barton has close ties to the French outfit from the season-long loan spell he enjoyed at the Stade Velodrome back during the 2012/13 campaign. He is clearly still highly thought of by the Marseille fanbase as they showered him with chants and affection throughout the tie.
Antonio Conte's Tottenham ran out 2-0 winners courtesy of a brace from summer signing Richarlison. Marseille were forced to contest the majority of the second half with ten men after Chancel Mbemba Mangulu was given a red-card for a tackle on Heung-Min Son.
Marseille held out for quite some time and did well to keep the scoreline at 0-0 for as long as they did, but eventually the host's pressure told and Richarlison netted his first goal in European football's elite club competition.
HAVE YOUR SAY! Should Marseille face punishment for their fans behaviour? Comment below
After the game, Conte discussed how happy he is for the Brazilian. “I remember when we signed him he said to me: ‘I can’t wait to listen to the Champions League music and play in this competition.’ Not many words but important words to me. When a player says these words, it means he has great desire and great will,” the Italian explained.
“This morning I said to him: ‘I remember what you said and tonight you have your chance. Enjoy the moment and try to do your best’. I think he did his best. We signed Richy to try to support the two strikers but he can play in the Harry Kane position and the Son position too which was very important to us. We didn’t have any doubt about signing him and we did this quickly because our ambition was very clear."
It remains unclear whether UEFA will intervene to punish Marseille for the conduct from their supporters, which inspired intervention from riot police who tried to ensure the situation did not get any further out of hand.
