* United statement:
"The distressing scenes witnessed in the Stadio Olimpico on Wednesday night shocked everyone at Old Trafford. In what the Club views as a severe over-reaction, local police handed out indiscriminate beatings to United supporters.
"In these circumstances, neither Manchester United nor AS Roma is able to call the police to account. As a result, the Club warmly welcomes the Government examination of the incident and will collect witness statements from fans to submit to the Home Office.
"Supporters who attended the game and wish to provide evidence should either write to Roma Inquiry, Manchester United FC, Sir Matt Busby Way, Old Trafford, Manchester, M16 0RA or e-mail: roma@manutd.co.uk."
* UEFA:
"UEFA have opened an investigation into the incidents that occurred at the UCL match AS Roma-Manchester United FC.
"UEFA is currently gathering evidence and will be studying the official reports of the referee, delegate and security officer in detail before announcing any further action."
* UEFA's William Galliard:
"We will be waiting for the delegate's report and the control and disciplinary body will be looking at the television images to see the dynamics of what actually happened. In Italy, the police are in charge of security in the stadium, stewards have nothing to do with it.
"Italian law says police are responsible for public order inside stadiums. Stadia in Italy are municipal stadiums, they are not the property of the club.
"We will also have to see what role Manchester United fans had in the incidents because they had some problems in Lens earlier this year. I only saw glimpses of what went on, I saw some missiles flying and the police charging."
"We are definitely in favour of soft policing, which is clearly the use of stewards who we know can handle a difficult situation probably better than riot police.
"We are subject to the law so we cannot tell the Italians and other countries where police are in charge of public order in stadia not to enter stadia.
"We are just a football authority not a law and order authority."
* Achille Serra, the Prefect of Rome:
"To criticise the police is a sport and the British always like to do this. The police were forced to intervene between two sets of violent fans and once you are in the middle of it you have to go in strong. In my opinion the police's performance was correct.
"If you can show me evidence of police brutality then I will of course look into it, but as far as I'm concerned, there is no evidence of this. It did not seem like a night of violence to me. There were incidents before and during the game, but nothing that I would say was serious.
"The attack was started by the English fans -- by a part of the English fans, we're not generalising -- a group of the violent ones.
"The other day, Bayern Munich came to Milan. And nothing happened. And a few days ago, Lyon came and nothing happened. A while ago, Valencia came, and nothing happened. The Ukrainians came, and nothing happened," he said.
"Perhaps some English groups that sometimes create problems in Italy and sometimes create problems abroad should examine their own conscience."
* IMUSA's Mark Longden:
"This happens time and time again to football supporters travelling in Europe.
"Football supporters — and not just from United — get treated terribly everywhere we go and Uefa need to look into this very carefully because, the way things are going, it's only a matter of time before there's a very serious incident. These comments from the Italian authorities don't so much disgust me as confirm everything I already thought about the police in some countries.
"Enough is enough now.
"There can be no more whitewashes, with £3,000 fines here and £10,000 fines there.
"We have gone beyond that now. This is a time for decisive action and if UEFA don't take it, I truly believe someone will get killed.
"There is no bigger rivalry in Europe than Manchester United and Liverpool.
"But there are no perspex screens between the two sets of fans at those games. Generally speaking all you have are two sets of stewards.
"Apart from the odd incident outside the stadium, those games seem to pass off reasonably peacefully so why should it be different in Italy.
"It seems to be if you need perspex screens inside stadiums, you have a problem. It is one that has to be sorted out.
"Questions must also be asked why the police were only on the United side of the barrier. Surely there should have been some on both sides because, while missiles were thrown from the United end, our information is that people were only lobbing things back that had been aimed at them in the first place."
* Italian Economy ministry under-secretary Paolo Cento, who also chairs a club of Roma supporters in parliament:
"It was Manchester that a few days before the match created a mood of tension, talking of a city of violence and danger.
"Now the English club must apologise to Rome and Italy, rather than asking for Tony Blair to intervene."
* Italy's Senate vice-president Mario Baccini:
"The police forces did their duty, isolating troublemakers and permitting the game to continue properly.
"Certainly, they did less than what foreign police do to Italian fans following our teams."
* Italian Football Federation president Giancarlo Abete:
"We owe gratitude to our law enforcers and I don't believe those who try to make games safe can be crucified in this manner. I was not present at the Stadio Olimpico... but I will follow the matter closely."
* Mark Hughes:
"They a have real problem in Europe in regards to stewarding and policing big crowds.
"The scenes are not something we are not used to any more.
"Certainly, at some venues in Europe, those situations seem to be prevalent.
"When they happen and involve supporters of our clubs, we are really shocked by it.
"We had some isolated incidents in Europe but nothing of great concern.
"We do not take the amount of numbers other clubs do in the Champions League.
"We always heed the warnings. We have fans who enjoy the experience and that is what you want when you travel abroad."
* Former ref Anders Frisk who was at the game:
"It was a very bad experience for me to be back in the Olympic Stadium and this time witnessing something that was not good for the game of football. I think the approach from the Italian police was (to blame), in my opinion. My feeling from the beginning was that they were very close to the United supporters. Maybe what started it was something being thrown and I think the Italian police reacted very, very aggressively towards one or two incidents and this is what caused everything to flare in my opinion.
"I went as a normal fan and when I went through the gates I was not searched at all so of course if you don't search people they will bring in bottles and things to throw at each other so that was a major mistake. It's about how you communicate with people, it's important for coaches, for players, for referees, for police and for fans to make the right communications because if you don't then you will have conflict in the match."
* The Times:
Insult was added to injury last night as Italian football authorities joined Rome police in condoning the terrifying scenes in the Olympic Stadium on Wednesday, with fears that Manchester United will be punished by Uefa for the ugly incidents even though the club believe that their fans were innocent victims.
Eighteen United supporters and two Roma fans required medical attention for injuries sustained during their Champions League quarter-final first leg and in a prematch ambush by the Italian club's notorious "Ultra" supporters, which resulted in several stab wounds.
United expressed serious concern in a statement yesterday, citing "indiscriminate beatings" by the local Carabinieri and promising their assistance with a Government investigation into the disturbances. But club officials were shocked and disturbed to hear comments from the Italian football federation (IFF) and the Rome police, who claimed that the actions of their force were justified.
Uefa, European football's governing body, has launched its own investigation, with United likely to be charged for the "improper conduct" of their supporters, just as they were in the match against Lille, staged in Lens, in the previous round.
Although much of the United fans' displeasure is directed at the Italian police, there is also anger about a seemingly organised attack on 300 supporters by Roma's "Ultras" on a bridge over the River Tiber before the match. There are also fears that a minority of United supporters may attempt to exact revenge against the 3,500 Roma fans travelling to Manchester for the second leg on Tuesday.
Greater Manchester Police intend to increase the number of officers inside and outside Old Trafford to deter clashes. A spokesman said: "GMP is experienced at policing large-scale football games. We will have adequate resources to police the area in and around the ground, in the city centre and on Salford Quays. Officers from our tactical aid unit, dog unit, mounted unit and traffic sections will be utilised alongside an increased presence of patrolling officers."
* Gabriele Marcotti in The Times:
English supporters are not used to such policing methods, whereas Italian fans are familiar with what awaits them in certain stadiums, particularly those sections of the ground that are assigned to the visiting Ultras, or hardcore supporters.
Any semblance of civil law or individual rights goes out of the window in those circumstances. You either behave (and hope that those alongside you do the same), or you have to be ready to face a baton charge at the first sign of trouble.
Some, those who enjoy the fighting, choose those areas of the ground for that reason. Thus, when some United supporters joined Roma fans in throwing missiles over the partition on Wednesday, and when the bottle-throwing did not cease immediately, all United fans in that area paid the price.
This "suspension of legality" probably worked both ways; the police felt authorised to use whatever methods they liked, and some United fans probably felt free to do things they would not have done at Old Trafford, such as rip up seats, throw missiles and engage in drunken, loutish behaviour.
Perhaps what they did not know was that Rome's police force have a particularly nasty reputation in that regard. They have clashed heavily not only with English fans but also those of Serie A teams such as Catania and Atalanta. Nor do they discriminate in favour of the local clubs. Three years ago the Rome derby was abandoned when it looked as if Lazio and Roma supporters were about to put aside their differences long enough to take on the police.
Effective crowd control has long been a problem for Italian law enforcement and not only in football — witness the brutal reaction towards the antiglobalisation demonstrations at the G8 summit in Genoa in 2001. Some suggest that it is a combination of ineptitude (modern baton charges are based around the "wedge" principle, which allows police to identify and separate miscreants from the mob; in Rome, too often, they rely on linear charges, which can result in indiscriminate head-bashing) and the fact that many police forces have a robust, right-wing, authoritarian streak.
In that sense, perhaps it should not be surprising that Serra found "nothing unusual" with the actions of his force. "And if anyone can prove that we did something wrong, I will personally open an investigation."
* The Telegraph:
At 8.30am yesterday morning, Michael Skarratt, 51, woke up in his hospital ward here to find an enraged Roma fan staring at him.
"I was just putting on my T-shirt," said Mr Skarratt, a Manchester United season ticket holder who was taken to the San Pietro hospital after being stabbed in the left buttock before the match on Wednesday night.
"He was all messed up, his nose had been broken. He started screaming at me in Italian, with some English swear words mixed in. Then he spat in my face. I was shaking with fear. Luckily after a while he went away."
Now the door to the end of Mr Skarratt's ward is locked shut. His wife, Linda, and his 26-year-old daughter, Nicola, were by his bedside.
Mr Skarratt's wound is a favourite of the Roma Ultra, who believe that a bottom wound humiliates their victims, who are unable to sit down during their recovery. Unfortunately, since he was taking anti-coagulants for a heart condition, doctors were unable to stem his bleeding until early yesterday morning.
* The Indie:
Manchester United yesterday issued an unprecedented condemnation of the Italian police's handling of the crowd trouble at the Champions League match with Roma in the Stadio Olympico on Wednesday and asked the British government to help investigate. But as Uefa opened an investigation into the violence, United are also bracing for disciplinary action. Both United and Roma can expect to be charged by Uefa.
United were fined £6,300 only a fortnight ago for trouble involving their fans at the away leg of their last-16 tie against Lille. Roma have a history of crowd trouble, and as the hosts on Wednesday will shoulder the responsibility for security.
The consensus among United supporters and officials is that trouble flared when Roma scored their first goal, and some Roma fans rushed to goad United's 4,000-strong travelling support, who were fenced into one corner of the ground. Missiles, including bottles, were thrown from both sides. The police then launched a series of baton charges, but only at the United fans.
"The distressing scenes witnessed in the Stadio Olympico on Wednesday night shocked everyone at Old Trafford," United said in a statement. "In what the club views as a severe over-reaction, local police handed out indiscriminate beatings to United supporters. In these circumstances, neither Manchester United nor Roma is able to call the police to account. As a result, the club warmly welcomes the government examination of the incident and will collect witness statements from fans to submit to the Home Office."
United will argue that the police were doing little to ensure the safety of their fans, regardless of their direct involvement in any trouble. One female fan, 23-year-old Carly Lyes from Rusholme, yesterday accused the Italian police of snatching her digital camera to prevent her filming scenes of police brutality.
"The police clearly did not want me to film what they were doing," said Lyes, who needed medical treatment for a wrist injury. "It was awful. Even when I was getting treatment for my injuries supporters were still getting hit on the concourse below. One fan had blood pouring from his head and another was unconscious but the police kept on wading in. I was screaming and shouting for them to stop, but they just ignored me. They weren't saying anything, just lashing out in all directions."
The Italian police also came in for criticism from Cleveland Police Authority chairman Dave McLuckie, who was among Middlesbrough's travelling fans when they were attacked at a Uefa Cup game against Roma in the Stadio Olympico in March last year. He called for the government to step in before a British football fan is killed in Italy.
"When I watched [the United game on television], I was horrified to think what had happened to us was happening again. I was astounded and horrified that the Italian authorities have still not got their act together. What is quite clear is that the police in Rome favour their own fans, their own people. They are deliberately placing themselves in a position where they can only deal with one set of fans."