ROME, 4 June 2017:
Hundreds of Juventus soccer fans watching the Champions League final in one of Turin’s main squares were injured when loud bangs created a panic and mayhem.
About 400 people were being treated for slight injuries, Italian media reported. About five people were seriously hurt, including a 7-year-old boy who was trampled, Sky TG24 reported.
Thousands of fans had gathered to watch the Champions League final in front of a giant screen in San Carlo Square.
During the second half of the match, which local club Juventus went on to lose 1-4 to Real Madrid, video cameras show a sudden rush in the middle of the crowd that caused a surge that flung people against barriers.
Many fans then began to run out of the centre of the square, screaming in fear.
The panic may been started by the explosion of a loud firecracker that was mistaken for a bomb, a witness said.
Afterwards shoes and bags littered the ground, people were seen limping and searching desperately for friends and relatives, the witness said.
Police have set up an information point to help people find their loved ones, and they are investigating what caused the panic.
Zinedine Zidane can stay at Real Madrid for life, club president Florentino Perez said after the Frenchman became the first manager to win the Champions League two years in a row with a dominant 4-1 win over Juventus.
Real produced a ruthless second-half display after an evenly matched first 45 minutes. They put more goals past Juventus in 90 minutes than the Italian champions had conceded in their previous 12 Champions League games.
The impressive win crowned a remarkable first full season in charge for former Real midfielder Zidane, who led the team to a first La Liga title in five years, delivering the club’s first European Cup and league double since 1958.
“Zidane can stay at Real Madrid for the rest of his life,” Perez told radio station Cadena Ser.
“Every Real Madrid fan is so grateful to him, he lifted our level of talent when he arrived in 2001 and was the best player in the world.
“Now he is the best coach in the world. He has been our coach for 17 months but he has done everything possible.”
Cristiano Ronaldo just seems to get better and better – he made the difference yet again with two goals to help Real Madrid secure a third Champions League title in four years in a riveting final.
For all the talk of tactics, the threat posed by the Italian champions and the romantic notion of Juve goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon finally claiming a Champions League winner’s medal, Ronaldo yet again found a way to hog the headlines.
Of course, Real’s win was about much more than the contribution of their Portugal forward.
When Juventus enjoyed spells of pressure in the first half, they largely held firm. After Mario Mandzukic scored an incredible first-half equaliser with an audacious overhead kick, Real didn’t let the Italians get away from them.
And whatever coach Zidane told his Real players at halftime succeeded in producing a display of dominance that, once Brazilian Casemiro had put them 2-1 up on the hour, never looked in danger of ending in anything other than celebrations.
But it was impossible to ignore Ronaldo, as his team mate Toni Kroos was quick to point out. “You need a guy to score the goals and he did it again,” said the Germany international.
Strikes in each half from Ronaldo made him the first player to score in three finals in the Champions League era, adding to his goals in the 2008 and 2014 showpieces for Manchester United and Real respectively.
His second on Saturday, to make it 3-1 in the 64th minute, put the game beyond Juve and made him top scorer in this season’s Champions League with 12 goals – one more than Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, who he is constantly compared to.
It also happened to be Ronaldo’s 600th career goal for club and country.
The former Benfica and United winger-turned-striker turned 32 in February but far from fading he is as dangerous as ever – perhaps even more effective than in his younger days.
In the past 12 months Ronaldo has won two Champions League titles, the European Championship with Portugal, claimed a Spanish league title and the World Club Cup and on an individual level been awarded the Ballon d’Or and FIFA’s ‘Best’ award.
“Again, I’ve had an amazing season. Me and my team-mates have done the double. The numbers don’t lie. I’m very happy – an amazing season, we’ve won trophies. This is one of the best moments of my career – I have the chance to say this every year.”