Security concerns ahead of Marseille's Champions League match

Tuesday evening's European Champions League match between Olympique Marseille and Atletico Madrid could be one remembered as much for what happens off the pitch as on it.

Certainly all eyes and television cameras will be pointed in that direction as there have been threats of violence ahead of the game.

Security at the Vélodrome stadium in the southern French city is on high alert, extra police officers have been drafted in, and as the good old sports journalism jargon would say, "tensions are running high".

Maybe though such an expression is far from being an understatement, certainly not as far as the local authorities in Marseille are concerned, given the events that occurred when the two sides last met in the same competition back at the beginning of October and what has happened since.

During a training session before that game, one Marseille (OM) player, Mathieu Valbuena, said he was the victim of insults hurled at him by the Atletico coach, Javier Aguirre - an accusation Aguirre has denied.

At the match itself, Atletico supporters chanted racist slogans at some of OM's black players, and crowd trouble broke out in the stands resulting in the arrest of one Marseille fan, Santos Mirasierra, who was charged with hitting a policeman.

Last Friday Mirasierra, who has always claimed his innocence, received a three and a half year prison term from a Spanish court - a sentence judged too harsh by many Marseille supporters, who have been calling his acquittal.

Club officials at Atletico have also confirmed that since Mirasierra's arrest they've received email threats of possible reprisals at tonight's match. As a result they've advised official supporters of the Spanish club to stay away from tonight's game, but of course they cannot guarantee against some fans travelling to the match with the express purpose of looking for trouble.

Even though 1,000 extra police officers have been drafted in for tonight's games, there's still a real worry that trouble could occur outside the stadium, especially as a large number of OM's official fan club have said they'll boycott the game itself but gather outside in a show of solidarity for Mirasierra.

During a weekend league match against neighbours, Nice, the president of OM, Pape Diouf, launched a call for calm ahead of tonight's game.

"I'm appealing to those in charge of whatever group of supporters to see sense," he said.

"This club has a future.....we have to show ourselves able to behave in a dignified manner and we're counting on your support on Tuesday," he added.

That was a sentiment echoed not only by the mayor of Marseille, Jean-Claude Gaudin, and the club's coach, Eric Gerets, but also by Mirasierra from his cell in a Madrid prison.

As reported in the daily sports paper Aujourd'hui Sport, Mirasierra has sent messages to other members, and in particular the leaders, of his band of OM supporters, urging them not to provoke violence at tonight's game

"The Spanish expect incidents and are telling their supporters not to travel to Marseille, but I know that we can remain true to our reputation," he told them.

"I think you have to call for calm. They're expecting incidents and that won't do my cause any good."

On the sporting side - which has very much taken something of a back seat in the French media in the run-up to the game - while OM cannot qualify for the final 16 of the Champions League, they still could make it through to the next phase of the Uefa Cup.

For that to happen, they need to beat Atletico to finish third in their group.

A draw would leave Geret's men waiting on the result from the night's other match in group D between the Dutch side PSV Eindhoven, who could still deny them that Uefa Cup place, and Liverpool, already through to the last 16 of the Champions League.