Police officers have been deployed to the San Mames Stadium after fights broke out ahead of the match between Roma and Athletic Bilbao.
The two clubs are competing in the round of 16 of the Europa League with a tie against either Rangers or Fenerbahce to come in the quarter-final.
Before kick-off, police officers with batons had to separate supporters as brawls could be seen on the streets outside the stadium in Spain.
13.03.2025, Ath Bilbao🇪🇸 - AS Roma🇮🇹, Bilbao vs 1312 before match, click for more here: https://t.co/eUJCTvwsKN pic.twitter.com/PhWiY3zRr3
— Hooligans.cz Official (@hooliganscz1999) March 13, 2025
Videos shared on social media showed carnage ahead of the match as police struggled to deal with masses of supporters. Clashes between Roma supporters and police officers could be seen outside the away section.
Roma currently lead the tie 2-1 on aggregate after victory in Italy last Thursday. However, they have quickly been reduced to ten men with Mats Hummels sent off after just 11 minutes.
13.03.2025, Ath Bilbao🇪🇸 - AS Roma🇮🇹, Roma vs 1312 at away sector, click for more here: https://t.co/eUJCTvwsKN pic.twitter.com/K37TyO4ZV2
— Hooligans.cz Official (@hooliganscz1999) March 13, 2025
Rangers lead Fenerbahce 3-1 in their round of 16 tie and aim to keep their lead to seal progression to the last eight of the competition.
However, there could be fixture complications in the next round if Roma progress.
Should Roma and Rangers advance - as well as Lazio on the other side of the Europa League bracket - then the fixture could be reversed.
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Due to Lazio having a higher seeding through a higher finish in the league phase, Roma would be forced to play their first at home instead of away in the quarter-final.
If Lazio are knocked out then Rangers would play at home first against Roma or Athletic Bilbao.
Similarly, Rangers would play at Ibrox in the first leg if Athletic Bilbao advance as no city clash would be caused with only one Rome club through.
