Red Star Belgrade's fans are expected to travel to Merseyside for the club's match against Liverpool. GETTY IMAGES
Merseyside Police is "set to mount an extensive security operation" around Liverpool’s Champions League clash with Red Star Belgrade next week "amid concerns supporters of the Serbian club will converge on Anfield despite being banned from the fixture," according to Paul Joyce of the LONDON TIMES. Red Star was "ordered not to sell tickets" to its fans for the games at Paris St. Germain and Liverpool as "punishment for a pitch invasion at RB Salzburg in August," when the club "progressed into the group stage on away goals." Yet more than 1,000 supporters "still went to Paris" on Oct. 3, "with many obtaining tickets for the game, while there were clashes with rival PSG fans outside the ground" prior to Red Star’s 6-1 loss. UEFA subsequently charged Red Star with "illicit chants" and is "reviewing crowd disturbances as part of a looming disciplinary hearing." There is "now an expectation that Red Star supporters will also travel to Merseyside" (LONDON TIMES, 10/17).
