Thiago Alcantara’s wife has shared her “nightmare” experience at the Champions League final.
Liverpool suffered a 1-0 defeat to Real Madrid on Saturday night. However, the result was overshadowed by events before and after the match.
Kick-off was delayed three times by UEFA, with thousands of seats empty in the Liverpool end of the ground. A UEFA message inside the stadium initially said the kick-off had been delayed due to the 'late arrival of fans at the stadium'.
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However, that slant was slammed by Reds supporters, who were also targeted with tear-gas by French Police, with many blaming the organisation from UEFA, and the police, as the reason behind the problems.
Liverpool have already requested a 'formal investigation' over what supporters were subjected to before the match. The ECHO understands that the club insists the UEFA message about late arrival of Liverpool fans is totally inaccurate.
Security concerns were raised with UEFA on numerous occasions ahead of the match. It is also understood that senior officials from Liverpool officially requested for the kick-off to be delayed after lobbying UEFA.
Julia Vigas, wife of Thiago, has taken to Instagram to explain how the night unfolded from her perspective. Julia recalls her experience of tear gas being used by French police and how she and her family had to be escorted from the stadium for safety reasons.
“I don’t like to comment on these things but this time I need to express myself,” Julia wrote on Instagram.
“Yesterday’s final was a total nightmare, and this is not about football, it goes far beyond the result.
“Due to a lack of organisation and security, there were so many scary moments.
“Constantly being threatened by bands of robbers, that were trying to assault us and slipped onto the stadium without a ticket.
“For that many supporters were left out of the game triggering avalanches of people.
“Tear gas was thrown by the police at families and supporters, and some of them also were beaten down. All of them innocent people.
“Because [of] all this trouble, we had to leave the stadium escorted for our own safety.
“Something has to be done, these kind of things cannot happen in any kind of event and we ask for responsibility. It could have been much worse.”
