The Spanish interior ministry has announced an “extraordinary” security response to threats made by the terrorist group Islamic State relating to tonight’s Real Madrid v Manchester City Champions League match.
More than 3,500 police officers will be in force around the Santiago Bernabéu stadium, north of Madrid’s city centre. Fans will be searched as they pass through four separate rings of security, while snipers will be posted on the roofs of buildings overlooking the stadium.
Interior ministry sources said it had activated “all its early warning and protection systems” against the threat of Islamic State against Champions League matches so that fans and citizens could continue their daily activity “with peace of mind”.
The threat level has been raised to the maximum of five in the Spanish capital, after Islamic State (also known as Isis) released a threat over social media channels to attack all stadiums in which the first legs of the Champions League quarter-finals are being played. This includes Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium, where they face Bayern Munich tonight.
The Al-Azaim Foundation and Sarh al-Khilafah, unofficial media outlets linked to Isis, published a poster with photographs of the four stadiums and the phrase: “Kill them all”. The image shows a man with his face covered and holding a rifle, next to the name of the arenas.
On Wednesday, Atletico Madrid will host Borussia Dortmund at the Cívitas Metropolitano stadium while, in the other last-eight tie, Paris Saint-Germain face Barcelona in the French capital. A Uefa statement said: “All matches are planned to go ahead as scheduled with appropriate security arrangements in place.”
Francisco Martin, the delegate of the government in Madrid, said the authorities “will deploy an extraordinary level of security forces in keeping with the alert levels determined by the intelligence services and the forces and security forces of the state”.
After leaving a security meeting, which was held after learning of the alleged threat of the Islamic State to the matches, Martin said: “The two matches on consecutive days [in Madrid] of course represents a huge challenge, which we have already overcome previously and with note. Now we are working to make it happen again between today and tomorrow.” Some 8,000 City and Dortmund fans are arriving in Madrid for the games.
The Met Police also acknowledged the threat before Arsenal’s game at the Emirates Stadium in north London tonight. “The UK terrorism threat level remains at ‘substantial’ meaning an attack is likely,” the deputy assistant commissioner Ade Adelekan, overseeing the policing of London today, said.
“However, I want to reassure the public that we have a robust policing plan in place for tonight’s match and we continue to work closely alongside the club’s security team to ensure that the match passes peacefully. As ever, we ask the public to remain vigilant, and if they see anything that doesn’t look or feel right, then report it to police or security staff.”
Gérald Darmanin, the French interior minister, said the police chief “has considerably reinforced security resources” in Paris before tomorrow night’s game. Luis Enrique, the PSG head coach, added: “Who isn’t worried or concerned by terrorist threats? I hope that it is something that we can control, that will only be a threat and nothing more.”
In one of the online calls for attacks, a terrorist leader urges “my brother from Al Andalus, destroy their meetings” next to a photograph of the recently remodelled Bernabéu. Al Andalus is the Arabic word for Spain, which was occupied by Muslims for centuries.
Police sources said that while these types of threats “occur daily”, this is the first time that Spanish stadiums have been directly targeted.
In 2022, Mohammed Yassin Amrani was sentenced to three years in prison for planning a drone attack on the Nou Camp during a match between Barcelona and Real.
