Unfortunately it seems that all the stories coming in relating to Liverpool’s game in Turin tonight are about the violence surrounding the game.
Italian football has had a troubled season for football violence – last night’s disgraceful scenes in Milan came just months after Roma fans injured referee Anders Frisk in Rome in a Champions League game.
Now in the wake of threats of revenge by Juventus "Ultras" against Liverpool supporters, reports have been made that a Liverpool fan was attacked in Turin last night.
The Italian news agency ANSA are the source of the reports.
They say that six "ultras" from Juventus assaulted a Liverpool supporter in the centre of Turin around midnight, leaving him with head injuries. A group of Liverpool fans were drinking in a bar, and were spotted by the Juve supporters. The six were carrying various weapons – "maces and sticks". These were confiscated by the police.
Reports say that the six were part of a larger group prowling the city looking for Liverpool fans. They were accompanied by girls to try and make it look like they were just a regular group of locals on a night out. Once the Liverpool fans were spotted, the girls left the scene, the "ultras" covered their faces with scarves and started to throw chairs and tables at three of four English supporters.
The news agency also reports that the Italians had planned their escape – they’d got three cars parked at the side of the bar ready escape in. They were stopped by staff from the bar though, and more weapons were confiscated from their cars.
The six involved were all from Turin, aged between 25 and 34.
Although this attack was obviously planned, it was not a large group of Juve fans, and it’s hoped that was just a one-off incident involving some young idiots with excess testosterone. After all, the oldest of these involved would have been only 14 when the Heysel disaster took place – the youngest would have been just five.