The scenes resembled something out of a low-budget apocalyptic film. On Sunday afternoon, smartphone footage emerged of a group of balaclava-clad men, shrouded in the red mist of a smoke bomb, smashing their way through a set of glass doors at the Johan Cruyff ArenA.
Crowd disorder is not unheard of when Ajax and Feyenoord face off, with the Netherlands experiencing an unwelcome rebirth of hooliganism in recent times. However, what occurred during De Klassieker this weekend was not your typical flavour of football violence. This was Ajax supporters taking out their frustrations by destroying their own club's property.
The fuse had been lit when Feyenoord scored their third unanswered goal of the first half, with the flares that rained down on the turf after the break eventually forcing an abandonment. Riot police and tear gas were deployed in an attempt to disperse the crowd once it became clear that the game wouldn't be completed. But that did not prevent pockets of Ajax supporters from breaking away from the rabble and forcing their way through the main entrance to the stadium. Eventually, order was restored, but the damage - in a quite literal sense - had already been done.
"It is a jet black day, this makes it even worse," Ajax coach Maurice Steijn told broadcaster NOS after the game.
