In a bizarre act, unknown individuals used cement to seal off an entrance gate to the visitor's section of Rot-Weiss Essen's stadium ahead of their German Cup clash against RB Leipzig later on Tuesday.
The perpetrators built a wooden frame to connect two entrance gates and filled it with concrete, preventing the gates from opening. Employees of the stadium operator and the club had to use axes to remove the obstruction.
The club said in a statement that the gate has already been unblocked and Leipzig fans won't have issues accessing the stadium.
“It was a brief nuisance,” Essen press spokesman Henrik Lerch said. Everything was resolved within two hours.
The stadium has a capacity for 20,000 spectators and some 550 Leipzig fans are expected to attend the match.