Manchester City fans attacked by 30 Crvena zvezda thugs in city centre bar assault

Local media in Serbia are reporting of an attack on Manchester City supporters in Belgrade on Tuesday night, ahead of their Champions League clash with Crvena zvezda.

The current UEFA Champions League title holders are in the Serbian capital for matchday six of their group stage campaign, looking to retain a 100% winning record in this season’s segment of the tournament.

In the reverse meeting between the two sides at the Etihad Stadium, Manchester City came from 0-1 down at the half-time interval to win 3-1 courtesy of a brace from Julian Alvarez and a sublime Rodri strike.

However, as Pep Guardiola and his players gear up for a hostile atmosphere in Belgrade, the build-up to the contest has been marred by a disgraceful attack from individuals based in Serbia on the travelling Manchester City support.

According to national media outlet Telegraf, police in Belgrade are on the search for young men who assaulted Manchester City supporters on Tuesday night at around 11PM local time, ‘masked and armed with wooden sticks’.

The report states that the current belief is that those responsible for the attack are fans of Crvena zvezda and that around 30 individuals took part in the incident bursting into a city centre bar housing around 20 travelling City fans.

Providing details on the assault, Telegraf report that Manchester City fans were struck on their heads and bodies by the assailants, before those responsible for the attack fled towards Belgrade city centre.

In a statement to Manchester City supporters in Belgrade, the Club themselves have issued a safety warning over travel to the stadium ahead of the game, ‘strongly advising’ fans to use provided transport from Student Square.

“We have arranged coaches leaving Student Square at 3:30PM (local time) to safely transport all our fans to and from the Rajko Mitic Stadium. We strongly advise all fans use this mode of transport,” Manchester City supporters have been told.

“Local police advise that all our fans avoid displaying club branded items or colours, and an email has been shared with you containing further travel and safety advice.”

Manchester City take on Crvena zvezda at the Rajko Mitić Stadium on Wednesday evening with both qualification for the last-16 of the UEFA Champions League and top spot in the group both secured.

As such, Pep Guardiola is granted a rare opportunity to rotate his side and hand fringe players game time in the contest, with out-of-favour defensive midfield back-up Kalvin Phillips expected to start the game.