Liverpool supporters were met by a major police presence in Barcelona ahead of Wednesday night’s Champions League semi-final first-leg.

Thousands of Reds emerged on the streets of Barcelona on Tuesday evening after arriving from flights from Liverpool and London earlier in the day.

Several supporters were at a fan park in Plaça Reial in the city centre as they sang, displayed their banners and enjoyed the Spanish temperatures.

However, the square was cordoned off by police with fans being demanded to move on after ‘several incidents’ involving supporters in the area.

Some supporters on social media claimed Spanish police “rushed and batoned people for no reason” whilst fans were having a drink in the evening.

Videos surfacing on Twitter showed one Liverpool supporter pushing a man into a fountain unprbooked, whilst another showed a disgraceful fan racially abusing an Asian gentleman.

Please identify this man and refuse him entry from the stadium tomorrow, he is an embarrassment to our great European following. @LFC @PeterMooreLFC @TonyBarrett pic.twitter.com/Ys2Ht2y0Ds — The Anfield Talk (@TheAnfieldTalk) April 30, 2019

This isn’t banter or funny ..I’d want these so called “fans” treated the same as any other club’s that are found to be abusive or racist as they seem to be in this clip ..find them ,identify them and ban them @lfc 😡 pic.twitter.com/7kfOfGHP9D — Grizz (@GrizzKhan) April 30, 2019

The same man has been seen in another video being racist towards an elderly Asian man, who’s also been pushed in a fountain. It’s hard to know what’s worse, the fact he’s picking on the vulnerable or the fact he’s old himself and still acting like that. Identify him @LFC pic.twitter.com/Q2EHyRKsbJ — Anfield Edition (@AnfieldEdition) April 30, 2019

The man in the Adidas originals top chanting alongside a brown man… a few hours earlier he was laughing at a racist joke and an innocent man being pushed into a fountain pic.twitter.com/bDCtLoJfhw — Bübbles (@bubbIxs) April 30, 2019

Fans now chanting "we shall not be moved" at Spanish Police pic.twitter.com/xA2Og7DVnB — Emilia Bona (@emiliabonaECHO) April 30, 2019

This is the scene as Liverpool FC fans are marched up La Rambla by police. Just heard one fan turn to his son and say "it's just sad" pic.twitter.com/PsLrpf5I62 — Emilia Bona (@emiliabonaECHO) April 30, 2019

This is an on-going situation and more updates are expected later on Wednesday morning, with both the club and Catalan police expected to release statements over the events of the evening.

Whilst the majority of Liverpool supporters behave respectfully whilst away in Europe, every club has a select few that look to cause trouble.

The local police may have been heavy-handed in their dealing with the incidents, however there is no excusing the behaviour of some of the supporters in the videos shared online.

UPDATE: On Wednesday morning, Liverpool chief executive Peter Moore called on supporters to act “in a manner befitting of LFC”.

He tweeted: “We proudly sing that we’ve conquered all of Europe.

“But let’s treat this beautiful city with the respect that it deserves, and act in a manner that is befitting of LFC.

“By all means have a good time, but we are Liverpool, and as such, let’s visit here with grace and humility.”