BVB fans in hot bother

Following fan violence at the beginning of the second-half and after the full-time whistle in Borussia Dortmund's Europa League match against PAOK in Thessaloniki on Thursday, the German club sharply criticized the actions of some of its own supporters.

"It was our lot who started it and such behavior can no longer be tolerated," said BVB Chief Executive Hans-Joachim Watzke: "We made our position clear to the groups concerned before the match. Now we need to review what happened. As a general principle, I think it's important to hear from all those involved. But today's (Thursday's) events were very clear. We will be given another hefty fine for this. If you disrupt a match, then you've crossed the line. It's no longer acceptable."

The first incident, which occurred at the start of the second-half, forced play to be halted for a number of minutes as flares and fireworks were thrown onto the pitch by some of the travelling supporters. Fans were also involved in violence with Greek police during the second-half and after end of the match.

Eight German fans were arrested during the evening, with no injuries being reported by either local police or the club.

"After the final whistle the team held a discussion on the pitch as to whether they should go over to the travelling fans. Ultimately, they chose to do so for two reasons: on the one hand, to make their opinion clear; on the other hand, they went over in the knowledge "that it was a small minority causing the chaos," said head coach Thomas Tuchel.

"The other 1,300 fans deserved the team to go over and thank them for their support," he added.

Borussia Dortmund earned a point from the match following Gonzalo Castro's first goal for the club in the second-half, which cancelled out Robert Mak's first-half effort. Dortmund remain top of Group C after two matches in the group phase.