The real story of the UEFA Champions League final carnage Liverpool fans faced in Paris

Children trembling with fear, their eyes streaming from an arid yellow wave of tear gas billowing through the barriers. An elderly man crumpling in on himself as he suffers a panic attack in a crushing crowd and cannot move. Women being kettled by state-employed bullies with reinforced shields.

No, not in a riot, a brawl, or a war. This was the UEFA Champions League final in Paris on Saturday evening.

These were human beings on a fun night out, wanting to support their football team alongside family and friends, who were treated like feral animals for having the temerity to try to enter the stadium for a special football fixture they paid hard-earned money to attend.

From the moment fans disembarked trains travelling from the Gare du Nord to Saint Denis on their way to the Stade de France, they were treated as cattle by disinterested and disdainful police offers who herded them into an enormous queue beneath a flyover.

After thousands were forced to spend an hour at a standstill under a bridge without access to toilets or water in 22-degree heat, the ticket checks that had been taking place at the end of the underpass were abandoned, meaning anyone and everyone was permitted to enter the area around the stadium whether they had a ticket or not.

From there, the situation worsened. Turnstiles were closed by stewards at around 6:30pm local time, two-and-a-half hours before kick-off, without warning or any explanation. The same stewards then abandoned their stations, refusing to communicate with perplexed supporters who had arrived early to enter the stadium in good time and enjoy the atmosphere.

What followed was carnage on a scale which was dangerous to the extent that the idea of lives being lost was at times realistic.

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