Aston Villa beat Legia Warsaw 2-1 in the Europa Conference League on Thursday, but that was not the only highlight of the match at Villa Park.
Following "disgusting" fights with Legia Warsaw fans on Thursday night, police report that 39 arrests were made and four officers were injured.
Before Legaa's match against Aston Villa, fans of the club were gathered in a coach park close to Villa Park when missiles were thrown at the police.
Though no Legia fans were permitted entry into the stadium before kickoff, the match did begin as scheduled.
Legia claimed Villa had broken their agreement to distribute away tickets, but Aston Villa insisted the choice was taken out of concern for the safety of players.
Following the game, West Midlands Police issued a statement, saying: "We've made more than 30 arrests as officers were injured during serious disorder involving away fans outside Villa Park this evening."
"We were faced with disgusting and highly dangerous scenes as trouble flared ahead of the fixture between Aston Villa and Legia Warsaw."
"We had a significant policing presence in place because of safety concerns. This stemmed from visiting fans having been involved in previous matchday disorder."
"Tonight's disorder is believed to have sparked when tickets were not distributed by the away club to supporters outside the ground, as had been anticipated."
"The away allocation had been reduced to 1,000 tickets on the joint recommendation of the Safety Advisory Group (SAG), working alongside Aston Villa and supported by UEFA."
Aston Villa also released a statement, saying: "Aston Villa can confirm no away fans were allowed into Villa Park for this evening's Europa Conference League fixture with Legia Warsaw on the advice of West Midlands Police following large-scale disorder outside the stadium caused by visiting supporters."
"The UK safety authorities, UEFA, and Aston Villa communicated on November 2 that the ticket allocation for away fans for this fixture would be reduced to 1,002 on the advice of safety authorities as a result of previous large-scale disorder caused by Legia fans last month at AZ Alkmaar."
"Several Dutch police officers were injured during that disorder. As a consequence, UEFA banned Legia supporters from traveling to Mostar for their game against HSK Zrinjski."
During the game, stewards removed several persons who were thought to be away fans from the home stands.
Meanwhile, social media images appeared to show things being thrown into the stadium from outside.
Legia released a statement in which they criticized the ticketing situation and expressed sympathy with their supporters by refusing to let the club's official delegation, owner, and president enter Villa Park.
The mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street, called on Uefa, the organization that oversees European football, to "swiftly... take strong action" against the visiting team Legia Warsaw.
A major disturbance that occurred during their match against AZ Alkmaar last month resulted in injuries to Dutch police officers.
Thanks to a goal by Alex Moreno in the 58th minute, Aston Villa secured a 2-1 victory against the visiting team.
Following "disgusting" fights with Legia Warsaw fans on Thursday night, police report that 39 arrests were made and four officers were injured.
Before Legaa's match against Aston Villa, fans of the club were gathered in a coach park close to Villa Park when missiles were thrown at the police.
Though no Legia fans were permitted entry into the stadium before kickoff, the match did begin as scheduled.
Legia claimed Villa had broken their agreement to distribute away tickets, but Aston Villa insisted the choice was taken out of concern for the safety of players.
Following the game, West Midlands Police issued a statement, saying: "We've made more than 30 arrests as officers were injured during serious disorder involving away fans outside Villa Park this evening."
"We were faced with disgusting and highly dangerous scenes as trouble flared ahead of the fixture between Aston Villa and Legia Warsaw."
"We had a significant policing presence in place because of safety concerns. This stemmed from visiting fans having been involved in previous matchday disorder."
"Tonight's disorder is believed to have sparked when tickets were not distributed by the away club to supporters outside the ground, as had been anticipated."
"The away allocation had been reduced to 1,000 tickets on the joint recommendation of the Safety Advisory Group (SAG), working alongside Aston Villa and supported by UEFA."
Aston Villa also released a statement, saying: "Aston Villa can confirm no away fans were allowed into Villa Park for this evening's Europa Conference League fixture with Legia Warsaw on the advice of West Midlands Police following large-scale disorder outside the stadium caused by visiting supporters."
"The UK safety authorities, UEFA, and Aston Villa communicated on November 2 that the ticket allocation for away fans for this fixture would be reduced to 1,002 on the advice of safety authorities as a result of previous large-scale disorder caused by Legia fans last month at AZ Alkmaar."
"Several Dutch police officers were injured during that disorder. As a consequence, UEFA banned Legia supporters from traveling to Mostar for their game against HSK Zrinjski."
During the game, stewards removed several persons who were thought to be away fans from the home stands.
Meanwhile, social media images appeared to show things being thrown into the stadium from outside.
Legia released a statement in which they criticized the ticketing situation and expressed sympathy with their supporters by refusing to let the club's official delegation, owner, and president enter Villa Park.
The mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street, called on Uefa, the organization that oversees European football, to "swiftly... take strong action" against the visiting team Legia Warsaw.
A major disturbance that occurred during their match against AZ Alkmaar last month resulted in injuries to Dutch police officers.
Thanks to a goal by Alex Moreno in the 58th minute, Aston Villa secured a 2-1 victory against the visiting team.