Thousands of Manchester City and Chelsea fans have descended on Portugal ahead of the teams’ Champions League final clash tonight.
Boozy Britons took over pubs and bars in sunny Porto as they geared up for all-English fixture – the pinnacle in the European football calendar.
Supporters flocked around the river Douro in the city as they chanted, erected flags and toasted to their club’s success in a few hours.
The joyous scenes come just hours after the streets descended into chaos when Britons battled each other and police with tensions flaring last night.
Rival gangs flouted social distancing rules as they flung bar stools at each other, hurled glass bottles and brawled on busy main roads following a heavy day of drinking.
Meanwhile livid locals hit out at the maskless mobs wreaking havoc on the north west city and said if the stadium is being open to Britons tonight then all grounds should be open to the Portuguese.
Thousands of Manchester City and Chelsea fans have descended on Portugal ahead of the teams’ Champions League final clash tonight
Boozy Britons took over pubs and bars in sunny Porto as they geared up for all-English fixture – the pinnacle in the European football calendar
Supporters flocked around the river Douro in the city as they chanted, erected flags and toasted to their club’s success in a few hours
The joyous scenes come just hours after the streets descended into chaos when Britons battled each other and police with tensions flaring last night
Football fans who have made the trip appeared to head straight for the bars as thousands packed into the narrow streets around the river Douro
Football fans who have made the trip appeared to head straight for the bars as thousands packed into the narrow streets around the river Douro.
Chelsea and Manchester City supporters mixed with each other at the boozers as the pints began to flow early this morning.
Huge flags were draped over the side of a rock face above one of the pubs saying ‘Man City loyal’ and ‘boys in blue from division two’.
Meanwhile some fans opted for a calmer way to see the city as they glided around on Segways while donned their team kits.
Hostilities between the two sides appeared to have been put on ice as small groups made up of rival supporters smiled for photographs on the personal transporters.
Others enjoyed a kick about in a city centre square in the shadow of a huge replica of the Champions League trophy.
Some Britons will be heading to the Estádio do Dragão to watch the match live while police said thousands of others are expected to spectate from the bars.
Some 16,500 will be allowed to enter the huge ground to help maintain social distancing despite low Covid cases in Portugal.
Chelsea and Manchester City supporters mixed with each other at the boozers as the pints began to flow early this morning
Huge flags were draped over the side of a rock face above one of the pubs saying ‘Man City loyal’ and ‘boys in blue from division two’
Hostilities between the two sides appeared to have been put on ice as small groups made up of rival supporters smiled for photographs on the personal transporters
Meanwhile some fans opted for a calmer way to see the city as they glided around on Segways while donned their team kits
Police watch over fans in the city centre of Porto before the UEFA Champions League final between Manchester City and Chelsea at Estadio do Dragao tonight
Locals are annoyed the stadium has been opened up for Britons to enjoy the Champions League final when they have not been allowed in for months.
Others are terrified the huge influx of foreigners in the city could lead to another spike in coronavirus infections – especially because the UK hosts a number of highly-contagious variants.
Resident Alexandre Magalhaes told the Guardian: ‘If they open [the stadiums] for the English, they should open [them] for all.’
His government had said English football fans would have to fly in today for the match, stay in a bubble before flying home immediately after the game finished.
But they scrapped the bubble requirment on Thursday and later lifted restrictions on movement amid the overwhelming number of Britons.
Another local said: ‘If these [new rules] are true I will not comply with any more lockdowns. This is a shame for everyone who continues to comply with health rules.’
Locals are annoyed the stadium has been opened up for Britons to enjoy the Champions League final when they have not been allowed in for months. Pictured: A bus at Porto airport
Others are terrified the huge influx of foreigners in the city could lead to another spike in coronavirus infections – especially because the UK hosts a number of highly-contagious variants. Pictured: Porto airport
Resident Alexandre Magalhaes told the Guardian: ‘If they open [the stadiums] for the English, they should open [them] for all.’ Pictured: City fans at Porto airport
Portugal’s government had said English football fans would have to fly in today for the match, stay in a bubble before flying home immediately after the game finished
Another local said: ‘If these [new rules] are true I will not comply with any more lockdowns. This is a shame for everyone who continues to comply with health rules.’ Pictured: Fans at Porto airport
Three fans flash their Covid negative wristbands that will let them enter the ground for the Champions League final tonight
Last night rival gangs from the two teams clashed with riot police armed with batons on the streets of Porto ahead of tonight’s fixture.
Supporters fought each other and local officers by the Douro river in the north-west Portuguese city after a bar stool was hurled back and forth.
Armed with flags adorned with their club crests, English fans flouted social distancing as they threw punches and lit up flares in skirmishes following a day of heavy drinking.
Photos earlier in the day showed hundreds of topless supporters drinking and cheering ahead of the UEFA Champions League final at the Dragao stadium, the home ground of FC Porto.
Up to 16,500 fans will be admitted, with each side allocated 6,000 tickets – with around 2,000 going to UEFA delegates and sponsors – and the rest sold to regular punters in Portugal.
But thousands more who do not have tickets will also face the agony of missing the game on TV, as bars in Porto close at 10.30pm on Saturday night as per coronavirus regulations.
Antonio Fonseca, chairman of the Association of Bar Keepers of Historic Porto, said he feared there would be trouble if bars and restaurants closed at that time.
He told MailOnline: ‘I’m worried about this aspect – if the game goes into extra time and it has penalties like the other night it won’t finish until maybe 10.45, so we face the prospect of owners asking people to leave with the match yet to finish. Who is going to be brave enough to tell these people who have been drinking all day to go?
‘It raises the possibility of violence and aggression and that’s why we asked the local council for an extension but so far we have heard nothing. It’s not going to be easy to ask the English supporters to leave.
‘This situation should have been taken care of. In the past, the Porto authorities met with us but unfortunately, they have not done so.
‘Everything will shut at the same time which means there will be large groups on the streets and the police will have to disperse them quickly.’
Chelsea fan Adrian Garrat, from Dorking, who arrived last night said: ‘What? The bars shut at 10.30? That’s the first I’ve heard of it. Sounds crazy to me if it goes to extra time and penalties.’
There were shameful scenes along the riverside in Porto city centre as rivals fought after a day of drinking in the sunshine. Several punch ups broke out and police baton charged fans to stop the violence.
Police had banned glasses and bottles and the throwing of beer at rivals did not result in serious injury.
One officer said: ‘The English fans have been drinking all day and some have tried to fight. But we have stopped them. They have been warned they will be jailed if they do not behave.’
Thousands of fans will take day trips on Saturday to the final, and will be escorted to and from the stadium and airport to limit exposure in a Covid-secure bubble.
A total of 16,500 fans are allowed to watch the game in the stadium, 33 per cent of the 50,000 capacity. More have travelled either in the hope of finding a ticket or simply to be in close proximity to the action while on holiday.
Fans have to have proof of a negative PCR Covid test to enter the venue carried out from May 26 or lateral flow test from May 28.
The game was originally supposed to take place in Istanbul, but the UK placed Turkey on the ‘red’ list – meaning travellers would have had to quarantine for 14-days upon their return.
There are others arriving in Porto who are not restricted by those measures who the police are said to be keeping a close eye on.
Portugal was one of only a handful of countries added to the UK’s ‘green list’ of places to travel from May 17.
But hundreds of thousands of Britons may use a loophole to fly there before travelling over land to their second homes in Spain, France and Italy.
The opening up of flights saw a rush of people jetting to Faro, Porto or Lisbon but there was nothing to stop them renting a car and driving into Europe.
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