THE traumatic scenes in Lens on Tuesday night, during Manchester United's vital victory over Lille, were reminiscent of my experiences in Oporto, Portugal, almost ten years ago.
The arrangements for United fans, in the team's 0-0 quarter final draw with Porto, were chaotic to say the very least.
Walking towards the stadium, we were confronted with hundreds of police in full riot gear armed with batons and perspex shields.
It seemed incredibly over the top. I had been in Oporto for three days soaking up the sunshine, and throughout the town, there was absolutely no trouble involving United fans.
But obviously the police expected fireworks.
As my friend walked ahead of me, I was immediately cut off by a massive group of police officers, and as I tried to call to my friend, I was hit by a baton-wielding policeman on my arm and body.
I am the last person who would ever want to cause any trouble and was merely trying to make sure I didn't get split up from my friend.
Eventually they let me through, but when we got to the turnstiles the kiosk, usually occupied by an attendant, was empty. Instead the attendant was sat on top of the turnstile with his leg across the gap, and he would move his leg out of the way when he had checked your ticket. Hardly the best way to let people into a match.
Then on the terraces it was clear something wasn't right. There were massive gaps in our end and we knew the game had been a sellout. It turned out that the police had simply stopped letting people in and at least 1,000 people with valid tickets had been told to go away, forced to miss the game they had been looking forward to.
The game was fantastic - after thrashing Porto 4-0 in the home leg a win wasn't important - and it was a great experience for me. But shortly before the final whistle the gate to the concourses was shut down.
There was no announcement made and people started to panic. And after about half an hour we heard gunshots.
The police were firing plastic bullets at fans who were getting anxious and trying to get out.
Then we saw a few people walking on the pitch with blood stained clothing.
About an hour after the final whistle the gate suddenly reopened and we were able to get on our coaches back to the airport.
There was never any explanation for what happened. People were so shaken up about it. There were children there with parents and grandparents, experiencing their first trip on foreign soil.
Why had we been treated so poorly? We were there to enjoy the game and I saw with my own eyes that this wasn't a troublesome bunch of fans.
The problem was there seemed to be a completely different perception from the police and authorities. It should have been like any normal away game with no trouble, but it turned out to be a nightmare.
It seems a similar thing happened on Tuesday, with a massive over-reaction by the police and authorities and the United fans once again treated in a thoroughly appalling manner.