Arsenal news: Arsene Wenger says Cologne fans spoiled Europa League return, expects action

Arsenal were forced into kicking off their match against Cologne in their Europa League opener a whole hour later after the German fans arrived in their droves at the Emirates. 

It was estimated that up to 20,000 Cologne fans arrived in north London despite their only being a 2,900 ticket allocation. 

They caused chaos on the streets with

Cologne fans were even mixed in the home end as they bought tickets from touts and Arsenal supporters to gain entry with around 10,000 estimated to be in the stadium by the time the game had kicked off. 

And Wenger opened up about how baffling and disturbing it was that so many opposition fans got in by insisting that they ruined their return to European competition. 

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“I’ve followed German football for a long time and I thought Cologne had not played in Europe for 25 years,” Wenger said. 

“On the first night they go out [to play], they spoil their night. 

“I couldn’t understand that. Were the problems created by people who had no tickets? I don’t know.

“But certainly they had more people here than tickets so that was certainly the cause.

“We left that to the police – I’m not better informed than you. I just had to speculate on if the game was not played, what would we do.

The  boss also reckons Cologne will be in line for an inquiry by UEFA for their fans’ actions. 

When asked if UEFA should take action, he added: “They are the only master to analyse the facts, what happened. They will certainly make an inquiry to see what happened, for sure.”

also admitted at one stage prior to the first whistle blowing that the game would have been postponed with the police deeming it unsafe. 

“We waited patiently in our dressing room but what was difficult was for me was I had all kind of plans to think about at some stage,” Wenger said.

“I had to think if we play tomorrow at what time do we want to play, do we play next week… but they have the Bundesliga again in midweek, and we had a League Cup game midweek as well.

“Do we move it to Tuesday and play Thursday? It was all kind of speculations you know that we had to analyse and see how we can deal with the situation.

“But in the end at some stage I thought they would not play the game, because I can’t see the police taking any risk.

“We live in a society of 100 per cent security and I thought they would never take a gamble to play this game when I saw the images around the stadium.

“But I must say our supporters as well dealt well with the situation as well and there was no aggravation. I hope everything goes well after the game.

Despite the delays, Arsenal went onto win the match 3-1 with Sead Kolasinac, Alexis Sanchez and Hector Bellerin cancelling out Jhon Cordoba’s stunning 45-yard opener. 


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