Champions League day in Munich. Expected by the local fans. Bayern faced Lazio this Tuesday in the second leg of the round of 16 and with hopes of a comeback that were fulfilled and the Germans qualified for the quarterfinals, thanks to two goals from Henry Kane and another Müller. They lost to the Romans in the first leg by zero goals to one, scored by former Sevilla player Ciro Immobile, from a penalty.
The 3,500 Lazial fans occupied the streets of the Bavarian capital since Monday to support their team at such an important moment. Although no incidents were reported, according to the local press, the hundred members of the Irriducibili faction were noticeable in the city, disturbing the previous day. The one that has generated the most controversy. The ultras gathered on Monday afternoon at the historic publicly owned 'Hofbräuhaus' brewery, where Adolf Hitler gave the first speech of the Nazi Party's program in 1920, and sang fascist chants in favor of the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, while They performed the Roman salute.
"Duce, Duce, Duce," the ultras shouted with their arms outstretched in the brewery while they recorded it on videos. "We don't care about prison, the black shirts - fascist militia under the orders of Mussolini - will triumph. If they don't triumph, there will be chaos with batons and grenades. Duce! Duce! Duce!" is heard in the collected chant. by several international agencies.
In this sense, the German police have confirmed for now the arrest of an 18-year-old ultra fan for having made the fascist salute while he was in the brewery. The young man was released after paying a "four-figure" bail, without specifying the amount, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport. Munich police spokesman Michael Marienwald told The Associated Press on Tuesday that an investigation is open and they do not rule out further actions against other people in the coming hours. Although for reasons of the investigation they did not provide more details.
“Yesterday, at six o'clock in the afternoon, the Munich police were guarding and intervened in the Hofbräuhaus brewery. This usually happens before a football match or a big event,” a local worker told AFP. "If behavior contrary to the Constitution or xenophobic occurred, we strongly condemn it," he added. However, according to the same agency, around 10:30 p.m., several videos were recorded inside the brewery, in which fans - dressed in Lazio tracksuits - gave the Nazi salute.
From Rome they have condemned the behavior of their citizens in Munich. Alessandro Onorato, sports councilor of the Italian capital, was outraged.
"The images of Lazio fans in Munich praising the Duce and giving the Roman salute are a shame. Therefore, without ifs and buts, I firmly condemn and express contempt for what is seen in the video," he told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
The same Italian newspaper was blunt on its website about what happened at the Munich brewery. “Roman greetings and songs for the Duce: the shame of Lazio fans in the beer hall beloved by Hitler,” read the headline.
Lazio began the year with two sectors of the Olympic Stadium in Rome closed against Naples, after the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) agreed to seal the north and south curves due to racist chants against the Belgian striker of the top team, Romelu Lukaku; He also sanctioned four players after celebrating with Nazi salutes in the Roman derby in the Italian Cup. In the same match, but in 2023, the club expelled "for life" three members and ultras who carried out racist and xenophobic acts against the rival team. In 2017, the Irriducibili used an image of Anne Frank, a victim of the Holocaust, in a photomontage that showed the Jewish teenager wearing a Roma shirt, the objective of which was to insult her rivals.
It could not be. The Biancocelesti club will have to wait to make history by overcoming the first knockout round of the top club competition and return to play in the quarterfinals, a round they already visited in 2000 - when there was no round of 16 - and lost to Valencia.
