Just hours before the second leg of the Champions League round of 16 began, nearly 600 Eintracht supporters who had traveled to Naples faced a tense atmosphere. Although they could not gain entry to the stadium, the situation escalated into clashes that unsettled the historic heart of the city. What unfolded in the center of Naples reflected a high-stakes moment in European football, where passion on the terraces can spill into the streets and set a challenging scene for local authorities and fans alike.
The ultra faction of the German club has been under the watchful eye of police since early in the day. The tension intensified as the group set a police car on fire and targeted garbage containers, actions that were condemned by officials but revealed how quickly a traveling crowd can become a public disturbance. Local media reported that some of those involved smashed a bus window as it carried players from Piazza del Gesù Nuovo toward their hotels, hurling stones and bottles in a display of hostility that drew the attention of both fans and the city’s security teams.
The authorities in Naples moved to restore calm and focus their efforts on maintaining safety around the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium, where, up to that point, no violent incidents had been observed near the venue itself. The priority was to prevent further flare-ups and ensure that residents and ordinary visitors could navigate the area without fear as the match approached the later stages of the day.
The tension that sparked the unrest during the fixture’s first leg continued to echo through the city center, prompting the Naples government delegate to impose a ban on ticket sales to German supporters living in Frankfurt for the Sunday match. This decision drew a sharp response from Eintracht, which issued a public statement opposing the restriction but could not prevent large contingents of supporters from traveling to the southern Italian port. The presence of the visiting side’s fans remained a focal point of security discussions, highlighting the delicate balance between allowing fans to attend while keeping the event secure for everyone involved.
In a further twist, Eintracht announced that 2,400 tickets would be returned to Naples on Tuesday night, corresponding to the visitors’ section of the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium, which would remain closed. The move underscored ongoing concerns about crowd control and the capacity to manage a separate allocation for away supporters amid a climate of heightened alert. Yet despite these measures, additional ultras were anticipated to arrive through third-party channels, aided in part by a strategic alliance between the German club and Atalanta, potentially allowing more fans to infiltrate the atmosphere through avenues not officially sanctioned by the organizers. The result was a city braced for a game that carried more than just sporting significance, with security and public order occupying a front-and-center role in the day’s unfolding events.