Shirts off and dozens of flares - Legia facing more fines

Flares were lit at the away end at Stamford Bridge after Legia Warsaw's second goal

Legia Warsaw's travelling support brought colour, noise and pyrotechnics to Stamford Bridge on Thursday night.

They lit flares and took their shirts off in celebration as the Polish club defeated Chelsea 2-1 in the second leg of the Conference League quarter-finals.

Despite the result, it is the Blues who progress to face Sweden's Djurgarden in the semi-finals of Europe's third-tier competition with a 4-2 aggregate victory.

And Legia will be bracing for trouble as they are expected to face more disciplinary action for their supporters' behaviour from governing body Uefa - adding to a long list of infractions in European competitions.

Since the start of the 2023-24 season, Legia have been fined in 17 of their 30 ties in Europe, totalling to about €464,250 (£396,000) in fines.

In west London, Tomas Pekhart's 10th-minute penalty gave Legia a surprise lead against the Premier League side, sparking wild celebrations at the away end as the travelling contingent took their shirts off in joy.

Chelsea restored parity through Marc Cucurella, but when Steve Kapuadi scored what proved to be the winner in the 53rd minute, the Legia fans responded by lighting dozens of flares.

Fireworks, flares, smoke powder, smoke bombs or other pyrotechnics are among items that are prohibited inside stadiums during Uefa competitions and Legia will now await consequences from the governing body.

Legia fans have a history of trouble

Only 1,021 tickets were allocated to Legia Warsaw fans because of safety concerns

Legia fans have long been associated with disorder on European nights.

Chelsea were only allocated 742 tickets for the quarter-final first leg in Poland last week because of security concerns.

Their fans were also advised not to wear Chelsea shirts in Poland amid fears of trouble from the Legia supporters.

In the return leg, Stamford Bridge saw an attendance of just 29,027.

The Blues fans may have been put off by the heightened police presence in and around the stadium and the closure of multiple sections of the ground amid concerns about the away support.

Legia were given a reduced allocation of 1,021 tickets and they were escorted to the stadium by the police in west London.

But this is not the first time they have created trouble on English soil.

Legia's trip to Aston Villa in the Europa Conference League group stage in November 2023 was marred by violence.

Legia Warsaw supporters attacked police in Birmingham in November 2023

Four police officers were hurt in clashes with Legia fans near Villa Park in the build-up to that game.

Villa won the fixture 2-1 with the away fans not allowed into the stadium.

The police made 46 arrests in relation to the incident while two horses and two dogs were also injured.

West Midlands Police said officers were "faced with disgusting and highly dangerous scenes", including having flares thrown at them.

"The violence was the worst officers had seen at a football match in more than two decades," the West Midlands Police Federation said.

The Polish club were banned from selling tickets to their fans for five European away games and were fined €100,000 (£86,100) by Uefa as a result.

The governing body said the punishment was "for crowd disturbances, acts of damage, throwing of objects and lighting of fireworks" on 30 November.