Soccer Extreme : German outfit Hamburger SV recorded an impressive 1-0 away victory against Celtic in Thursday's Europa League group stage game and the Hanseaten were keen to thank their fans for their support after the encounter.However, the HSV players were refused permission to greet their 2,500 fans, much to the dismay of head coach Bruno Labbadia, who remonstrated with police and stewards, while his players sat down on the corner of the pitch in protest.
"We had 2,500 supporters with us and we were told that we could not go over and celebrate with them," was Labbadia quoted as saying by BBC.
There had been reports of clashes between rival fans outside Celtic Park and, inside, Hamburg fans goaded the home support with banners and songs of the Glasgow club's city rivals Rangers.
"When the players sat down, the police actually told us that we would be reported to UEFA. It showed us disrespect, it's not good - there was a fine touch missing there and I was not too happy about that. I wish to say thank you to the fans - we couldn't do that as we wanted." (goal)