April 5 – Liverpool have apologised to Manchester City after bottles were thrown at their team coach when they arrived for the all-English Champions League quarter-final first leg on Wednesday.
Liverpool fans had organised a “coach welcome” for their Premier League rivals and their own team, lining a side street where the team buses were known to be arriving at the ground. But missiles were hurled at the City bus on its way to ground causing the driver’s door to be smashed and the vehicle put out of commission.
“We apologise unreservedly to (manager) Pep Guardiola, his players, staff and officials caught up in the incident,” Liverpool said in a statement.
“The behaviour of a number of individuals was completely unacceptable and the club will cooperate fully with the authorities to identify those responsible.”
On the pitch, the runaway Premier League leaders were stunned as Liverpool took a shock 3-0 first-leg lead and while City’s players denied the bus attack had anything to do with the upset result, Guardiola expressed surprise.
“I did not expect that from the Liverpool side, their people,” he said. “The bus is destroyed but I did not expect a prestigious club like Liverpool doing this kind of thing. It is not Liverpool, it is the people, but hopefully it does not happen again.”
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