ITALIAN cops are on red alert ahead of Chelsea's high profile Champions League clash against Roma.
Around 2,000 Chelsea fans are expected in the Italian capital for Tuesday's game and extra officers have been drafted in from across the Italian capital.
Officials fear around 200 potential hooligans will travel to Italy and as a result officers from the Met have also gone out for the high risk game.
There are fears Chelsea fans will unite with their Lazio counterparts so they can ambush Roma fans heading to the match.
Earlier this month there was trouble in and around Kensington, West London, after Roma supporters at the match at Stamford Bridge clashed with police forcing shoppers to take cover. Rome has been the scene of various disturbances with English fans from Middlesbrough and Manchester United being targeted in the past - the most serious clash was in 2007 when dozens of United fans were hurt in clashes. While in 2012 several Tottenham fans were stabbed by Lazio fans during a Europa League match. A Rome police source said:''We have held meetings with representatives from the Metropolitan Police, the British Embassy and Roma football club. We are prepared for everything and this will be a highly sensitive week for us with fans from Britain and the France coming this week as Nice play Lazio on Thursday. ''We will have a high number of officers on duty for the match and we will not tolerate excessive drinking or violent behaviour.''
Cops will be patrolling the city's two airports, the main railway station and main squares with bar owners being asked to keep an eye out for drunken fans. The Foreign Office has also warned Chelsea fans to take precaution saying: ''It is strongly recommended that fans should use the shuttle buses and not make their own way to the stadium.
"Fans should avoid the area south of the Olympic stadium, in particular Ponte Duca D’Aosta, where Rome fans normally gather before the match.''
From The Sun
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