Lyon’s Europa League quarter-final first leg with Besiktas was delayed by 45 minutes on Thursday night after fans ran onto the pitch to protect themselves from the throwing of firecrackers and projectiles.

As the two sets of players emerged and the Parc OL to warm up, missiles came reigning from the upper tiers of the stands onto supporters who had to vault the advertising boardings to protect themselves, causing an unexpected postponement in France.

The match was due to kick-off at 8.05pm BST but Uefa confirmed “crowd disturbances” meant the match could not begin for another 45 minutes.

With an image of supporters entering the field of play, Lyon posted a tweet reading: “Projectiles and firecrackers thrown from the tops of the stands have forced fans to take refuge on the pitch.”

The incident comes only two days after Borussia Dortmund’s Champions League game with Monaco was suspended for 24 hours after three explosions near the team bus on the way to the stadium.