Hand of friendship is not grasped by all

Liverpool supporters have taken up only two-thirds of their allocation of tickets for next week's Champions League second leg at Juventus as fears grow that the deeply held enmity among Italian supporters over the Heysel Stadium disaster could spill over into violence.

Hardcore Juve fans greeted Liverpool's attempts to promote Tuesday's match at Anfield as a game of reconciliation with jeers, a significant section of the visiting support turning their backs on a pre-match ceremony which saw Michel Platini, Phil Neal and Ian Rush carry a banner with the message In memory and friendship from the Kop to the Anfield Road End.

That reaction was widely criticised by the Italian media in the wake of the game, the Turin-based daily newspaper La Stampa headlining its report on the tribute: "At the festival of friendship, ignorance wins."

"I cannot help what our fans did," said Platini, who played for Juve at Heysel in 1985. "They did what they decided they wanted to do and what they thought was best. I wanted to do what was right, but I cannot help the other fans' reaction."

Italian commentators were equally dismayed that insults were thrown at the mayor of Liverpool who attempted to welcome Italian fans arriving at the city's airport on Tuesday afternoon. Merseyside Police subsequently arrested 10 Italians involved in separate incidents in the city centre.

As a result, fears persist that next week's second leg could be blighted by crowd trouble, most likely outside Stadio delle Alpi.

Those worries have been exacerbated by messages posted on Juve's ultra websites threatening revenge attacks as the two teams meet for the first time in a competitive fixture on Italian soil since 39 Juventus fans died following crowd trouble at the European Cup final in Brussels 20 years ago.

Liverpool fans have taken up only 2,500 of their 3,600 tickets for the second leg in a competition in which demand always exceeds allocation, with supporters urged not to travel independently with a view to purchasing a ticket - from touts or over the internet - to sit among home fans.

"Talk of Juventus fans looking for revenge is unsettling," said Richie Pedder, the chairman of the Liverpool independent supporters' club. "I just hope Liverpool fans are not allowed into the city centre of Turin on the day of the game and are then bussed in on the evening."

Each ticket distributed by the Premiership club through official channels includes a letter reminding supporters of where and where not to venture in Turin, though such warnings are standard for European matches.

Indeed, other than marginally increasing the number of travelling stewards and police officers, Liverpool have not taken any special measures to step up security for the second leg.

That stance has been matched by Juventus and Uefa, with both clubs and the authorities confident normal procedures should eradicate the possibility of any trouble.

Confidence remains high among the Liverpool squad ahead of the return fixture, despite a late error from Scott Carson allowing Juve a potentially pivotal away goal.

"That was easily the best we have played all season," said Steven Gerrard, whose irrepressible performance inspired those around him until he tired late on. "I'd put it beyond the Arsenal and Olympiakos performances. Given the calibre of the opponents, the first-half display may even be as good as anything I can remember in the last few years.

"We have to take a step back and look at what we have done. We have beaten one of the best teams in Europe. Juventus and Milan were everyone's favourites before the competition began and not many would have given us a chance against them. But everyone stood up to the task and we have achieved a special result.

"Now a lot of us are going to have to put in the performances of our careers in Turin. Every player has to be on top form that night. We won't be able to carry anyone from the starting 11 to the substitutes.

"We know how hard it is going to be but we can take a lot of confidence from the first leg result." ...