A nine-year-old Liverpool fan was left in tears after French police reportedly pepper-sprayed his dad.
Lifelong Red Carl Clemente, 38, and his nine-year-old son Colley Clemente were at the Liverpool vs Real Madrid Champions League final match when they were caught up in a 'disturbance' near the stadium.
The Reds lost to Real Madrid 1-0 at the Stade de France, just north of the city, on Saturday evening. However, distressing scenes outside the ground saw French police use tear gas on elderly fans and children.
READ MORE: 'Shambolic' scenes as Liverpool Lime Street station closes early after Champions League final
Carl and Colley left Stade de France to catch a taxi from a nearby hotel following the game at around 1am local time. Speaking to the ECHO, Carl said: "As we were walking to the hotel I saw three or four Liverpool fans.
"They said "don't go that way, the police are pepper spraying fans. In hindsight I should have turned round but I didn't make much of it so I just carried on walking towards the hotel and past the police.
"I felt intimidated walking past the police, no smile, no hello..."
As Carl approached the hotel, he says there was a disturbance between what appeared to be locals and the French police.
He said: "The disturbance wasn't to do with Madrid fans or Liverpool fans. What I saw was groups of young lads from Paris having a go at the police and charging the police
"There was about two or three groups, about 20 or 30 of them, and they were the ones causing trouble. They were throwing things at the police and then the police charged and used pepper sprays."
As they waited for their taxi, Carl and Colley were suddenly caught up in the incident. Carl said: "There was another surge of these local Paris lads and the police came at us again and they threw a pepper bomb and it actually hit my ankle.
"I jumped up and threw myself to the floor right in front of my lad. I fell over and hit the deck, my lad was in tears and he couldn't breathe properly.
"We also had really sore eyes."
Carl said the experience has put him off taking his son to future European matches. He said: "For a nine-year-old, it was his first Liverpool experience in a big competition, he's not going to want to go again."
Liverpool have released a statement calling for a thorough investigation into events outside the ground.
Receive newsletters with the latest news, sport and what's on updates from the Liverpool ECHO by signing up here
