Wednesday 18 May 2022 06:43 PM Football thugs hurl chairs at each other in ugly scenes before Europa League ... trends now

Café chairs went flying in the streets and parasols were knocked over after fighting between Eintracht Frankfurt and Rangers broke out in Seville ahead of the Europe League Final. 

Social media footage showed rowdy fans amid the chaos, as Rangers supporters sitting in a bistro on the side of the road begin throwing chairs as Eintracht fans surrounded the eatery - it is not clear who began the violence first as the two sides threw chairs at one another. 

Some fans, who appeared to be Eintracht supporters - wore balaclavas - as they dodged incoming furniture and tossed it back over to the Rangers. 

Other video online showed  throngs of Eintracht fans dressed in white as hundreds of them walked through the streets of Seville.

It comes as Eintracht thugs have thrown flares and chairs at Rangers supporters in the host city after a 200-strong mob of German yobs attacked the Glasgow fans ahead of the Europa League final tonight.

Spanish police said they arrested five Germans yesterday after Eintracht fans, many of whom were wearing balaclavas, began violent altercation with a large group of Rangers fans enjoying late-night drinks in Seville.

The trouble comes as police have identified 400 ‘at risk’ soccer hooligans who have slipped into Seville in an attempt to cause mayhem at tonight’s Europa League final.

The Spaniard filming the punch-up shouts to a friend not to risk it as he goes to venture outside to separate the two groups of men.

Riot police can be seen in the background chasing after Eintracht Frankfurt hooligans who moments earlier had been throwing glasses and other missiles at Rangers fans ahead of tonight's final in the southern Spanish city.

The locals filming the extraordinary scenes could be overheard yelling out: 'Give them a good beating, smack them, smack them' as the heavily-armed police tried to clear the German ultras from the area.

The violence outside the bar where the Spaniards had locked themselves in appeared to come out of nowhere after German hooligans wearing balaclavas had walked by menacingly moments earlier.

The man who was the first to be hit had been sat down with friends at one of the tables and appeared to have taken no part in the violence that led to riot police being mobilised and ended with the arrests of five Germans for public order offences.

Another thought to be a Rangers fan although his nationality has not been officially confirmed, felt the full force of a right hook to his head in a surprise ambush before all hell broke loose and the brawlers began to use chairs as weapons.

The Spaniards filming the violence provided a running commentary as if it were a boxing match, with one shouting: 'Jesus, they've really hurt him' as they recorded the moment one of the chairs was hurled through the air by the man who received the first punch and hit its intended target full on.

Spanish police confirmed after they had quelled the trouble around midnight last night that they had made five arrests.

The German Ultras have been tracked from Frankfurt and Spanish police have been provided with intelligence on the thugs out to attack Rangers fans.

Their methods include the surveillance of bars where opposition fans are drinking and then to launch an ambush.

They also sound out rival fans in football shirts to attack them as they walk alone.

The identities of some of the gang of 400 is known to German police and their photos and names have been given to Spanish police marshalling tonight’s match.

Sources said the numbers included some of the moist vicious thugs from Frankfurt and are from the same gangs that attacked innocent West Ham United fans in Germany a fortnight ago.

Thousands of riot police have been drafted in to try and prevent further trouble after clashes late last night which saw the masked Ultras attacking Rangers fans.

Earlier Spanish TV footage showed the hooligans brazenly approaching heavily-armed officers standing between them and the Scottish fans before hurling their missiles as extra police reached the scene.

One flare landed inches from the spot where the Rangers supporters were standing, near to Irish bar O'Neills on Paseo de Colon where trouble flared between Eintracht Frankfurt ultras and West Ham fans in March.

One Rangers supporter could be seen picking up a glass and throwing it in the direction of the German hooligans on the other side of the police line.

Earlier, footage showed Eintracht fans, many of whom were wearing balaclavas, running through the streets of Seville in search of Rangers fans.