Galatasaray and Milan supporters in scenes of violence

Violence flared at Champions' League matches in France and Italy last night as Milan supporters protested angrily after their team crashed out of the competition following a 1-1 draw with Deportivo la Coruña and Galatasaray fans held up their match in Paris despite the Turkish side having already qualified through to the quarter-finals.

Violence flared at Champions' League matches in France and Italy last night as Milan supporters protested angrily after their team crashed out of the competition following a 1-1 draw with Deportivo la Coruña and Galatasaray fans held up their match in Paris despite the Turkish side having already qualified through to the quarter-finals.

With PSG leading 2-0, the Portuguese referee, Vitor Manuel Melo Pereira, was forced to take the players off the pitch following fighting in the stands. Officials later took the decision to resume the match as the mood in the stadium cooled off.

The violence began in the visitors' section with seats being ripped out and thrown. Some supporters climbed out of the stands and wandered towards the pitch bleeding. Uefa, the game's European governing body, is expected to react strongly to the incident with the Turkish club once again in the news for the wrong reasons.

When the match did resume, PSG held on to their two-goal advantage for the remaining 31 minutes. The result, combined with Deportivo la Coruña's 1-1 draw at Milan, means Galatasaray progress as runners-up behind the Spaniards.

In a dour match in Milan, Deportivo went ahead on 75 minutes with Djalminha chipping in a penalty after the Dane Thomas Helveg floored Joan Capdevila in the box. Milan's Andrei Shevchenko levelled matters, also from the spot. After the game, riot police had to fight off dozens of angry Milan fans, who tried to storm the VIP area at the San Siro.

Meanwhile, Valencia looked set to slip behind Manchester United when they fell behind to Panathinaikos on 28 minutes, but recovered to win 2-1 and secure first place in Group A.

Agelos Bassinas gave the visitors a shock lead with a first-half penalty, but Juan Sanchez headed Deportivo level six minutes before half-time. Jocelyn Angloma won the game for the Spaniards 15 minutes from time.