Fans pelted engineers who were attempting to restore the picture to the big screen with bottles and cans, forcing them to retreat for their own safety.

For some time, the screen in Piccadilly Gardens, a “fan zone” where more than 10,000 fans had gathered, showed a message saying that the problem was being sorted out — the images were lost entirely 15 minutes before kick-off.

Sir Richard Leese, leader of Manchester City Council, suggested that any chance of restoring the picture was lost when the technicians came under attack.

Eddie Smith, the managing director of Lightmedia Display, said that his technicians were still investigating a “technical signalling problem”. Some fans had reported that the signal received by the screen had been weak earlier in the day, although the authorities have no reports of this. It had been on for much of the day.

It was the only screen of eight across the city that failed, suggesting a technical failure of the equipment.

The satellite feed was being supplied through Uefa. It was not the same as the pictures broadcast by ITV.

Mr Smith said: “Despite all our efforts to strengthen the signal to the screen, it proved impossible. We are extremely sorry and fully recognise what a blow this was to the thousands of fans hoping to watch the match.”

The city council’s contingency plan, in case of a big screen breakdown, was to transport fans by shuttle bus to a mobile site close to the Velodrome, but it was inevitable that many fans would miss much of the match.

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