Liverpool fans pepper-sprayed by French police in stadium entry chaos

Riot police fired tear gas and pepper spray at Liverpool supporters forced to endure long waits to get into the Champions League final amid logistical chaos on Saturday.

The start of the showpiece game of the European football season, in which Liverpool lost 1-0 to Real Madrid, was delayed for 37 minutes and kicked off as security was still struggling with the flow of frustrated supporters into the Stade de France.

UEFA claimed there were thousands of ticketless fans trying to gain access to the 80,000-plus capacity French national stadium but it did not identify where they were from.

French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin claimed stewards were assaulted by the supporters of the English side who forced entry without tickets or with counterfeit tickets. 

French Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra also overlooked any shortcomings by authorities by claiming thousands of English fans "complicated the work of stewards and police forces" and tweeting: "Violence has no place in the stadiums."

But the scenes of disorder drew criticism from the opposition.

Marine Le Pen expressed a "feeling of humiliation," adding that "all the capitals that saw this have noted that France was no longer able to organise large demonstrations without them degenerating."

Jean-Luc Mélenchon made the same observation. "The image is lamentable, it is worrying because we can clearly see that we are not prepared for events like the Olympic Games," said the leader of La France Insoumise on BFMTV.

Liverpool said it was "hugely disappointed" with the security issues experienced by its fans.

"This is the greatest match in European football and supporters should not have to experience the scenes we have witnessed tonight," the club's post-match statement said.

"We