Real Madrid win 15th European Cup after beating Dortmund in final - with arrests made over 'attempts to breach security'

Sky News
·2-min read

More than 50 people were arrested at Wembley after a pitch invasion and attempts to breach security at the Champions League final.

Now, the FA has told Sky News no "ticketless individuals" managed to get in because of its "robust" security.

Real Madrid beat Borussia Dortmund 2-0 in London on Saturday thanks to late goals from Dani Carvajal and Vinicius Jr.

The game was halted inside the opening minute as three separate pitch invaders evaded security, with Wembley Stadium later confirming arrests were made.

There were also reports of fans trying to enter the game without tickets.

Commander Louise Puddefoot from the Met Police said: "Officers have made 53 arrests at Wembley - five for pitch invasion and the majority of others for attempts to breach security.

The FA confirmed its security measures worked and thanked police and stewards for helping to deter "the mindless actions of a small minority".

"Our enhanced security operations ensured that these incidents were dealt with robustly and swiftly," the FA's statement continued.

"These attempts to get into the stadium without tickets were not successful and the new outer perimeter system at Wembley worked."

"There is a robust policing operation in place to support the Wembley security plan and officers have worked closely with stewards and stadium staff to maintain security throughout," said Commander Puddefoot.

The force commander also said more than 2,000 police officers were on duty on Saturday, policing protests in the capital as well as the Champions League final and related fan events.

Wembley Stadium announced before the game that they had taken measures to stop "poor fan behaviour" in the wake of the Euro 2020 final.

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More than 2,000 ticketless fans stormed the stadium while England and Italy played in July 2021, prompting the FA to apologise.

A review by Dame Louise Casey later found the violence created a situation where people could have been killed.

Real Madrid's victory - which saw them win their 15th European trophy - also comes two years after chaos broke out in Paris during the 2022 Champions League final.

Tens of thousands of Liverpool supporters and Madrid fans were held in poorly organised queues ahead of the final at the 75,000-capacity Stade de France.

Authorities initially tried to deflect the blame towards ticketless Liverpool fans arriving late for the game.

But last year an independent report found UEFA, Europe's football governing body, bore "primary responsibility" for the security failures which almost led to a "mass fatality catastrophe".

In March this year, it emerged that Liverpool fans who made personal injury claims over the chaos reached a compensation agreement with UEFA.

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