Photo credit: @footynewz | Twitter

In a few months, European soccer fans will travel to Russia to support their national team in the hope that their side can cling the World Cup Football. France, Germany, Spain are the European favorites, Brazil and Argentina the South American ones. There is, however, a tiny thing standing in the way of many fans buying their tickets already now, which is what usually happens.

Many European fans, fathers with their young sons, for example, are reluctant to travel to Russia to go and see a football match in Moscow as everyone here know the reputation of Russian football fans.

<blockquote class="twitter-video" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Unbelievable scenes in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Bilbao?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Bilbao</a> with <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Spartak?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Spartak</a> Russian Ultras creating chaos in the city. <a href="https://twitter.com/BBCSport?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BBCSport</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/BBCNews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BBCNews</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/itvnews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@itvnews</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Channel4News?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Channel4News</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Channel5N?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Channel5N</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/cnnbrk?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@cnnbrk</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Reuters?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Reuters</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/AlJazeera?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AlJazeera</a> <a href="https://t.co/ndTNoWf4s6">pic.twitter.com/ndTNoWf4s6</a></p>— HendoLondon (@HendoLondon) <a href="https://twitter.com/HendoLondon/status/966790334075240448?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 22, 2018</a></blockquote>

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For those who do not, they were reminded of it yesterday as Athletic de Bilbao (Spain) received Spartak Moscow (Russia) for a match in the ‘Europa League’ soccer. Spartak brought thousands of ‘Moscow Ultras’ hooligans with it who battled with Spanish police before and after the match. One police officer died.

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Commenters in Europe were quick to spread these videos on the net showing Spartak’s Ultras duking it out with Spanish police forces. It gives an idea of what European soccer fans can expect if they travel to Russia over the summer.

<blockquote class="twitter-video" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Absolute mental scenes as Ultras Spartak take on the Herri Norte..<br><br>Athletic Bilbao vs Spartak Moscow. <br><br>22/02/18. 👊🏼💥💥 <a href="https://t.co/X4yIJ8PxYV">pic.twitter.com/X4yIJ8PxYV</a></p>— TheRealCasuals (@Real_Casuals_66) <a href="https://twitter.com/Real_Casuals_66/status/966760143143792640?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 22, 2018</a></blockquote>

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For anyone wondering about the match itself, Spartak Moscow won 1-2 In Athletic de Bilbao, the return match is in three weeks but we doubt many Spanish fans will travel to Russia to see that one.

Source:

https://nos.nl/artikel/2218926-agent-dood-tijdens-rellen-supporters-athletic-bilbao-en-spartak-moskou.html