Thousands of Roma fans were travelling to Manchester today ahead of tonight's crucial Champions League match. Around 3,000 followers of Roma were expected at Manchester Airport on 14 chartered flights for the quarter-final second leg match against Manchester United at Old Trafford.

Last Wednesday's first leg saw violent scenes in and outside the Olympic Stadium in Rome as United fans were ambushed by knife-wielding thugs and beaten by riot police. United officials described the police actions as "indiscriminate" and "a severe over-reaction".

Extra police will be on duty for tonight's match amid of fears of revenge attacks on Italian fans. There have also been suggestions that Roma 'Ultras', will travel to Manchester to exploit the tension and cause further mayhem.

The first flight from Rome arrived at 9am today, with 341 fans on board. Thirteen more flights were arriving at intervals, mainly this afternoon, until 6pm tonight. Italian fans were being bussed from the airport into the city centre on 42 coaches. The airport has employed Italian-speaking staff to help direct away fans when they arrive and depart.

Uefa have launched investigations into the trouble last week in Rome and there was more violence in Seville a day later involving police and Tottenham Hotspur fans.

"There will be an operation in place to ensure the safety of all fans, club staff and other members of the public," a Greater Manchester Police spokesman said. "We have experience in policing high-profile matches and we will have the appropriate resources in place."

Sir Alex Ferguson, the Manchester United manager, said he did not anticipate any trouble, and insisted that Roma's travelling fans have nothing to fear. But the Independent Manchester United Supporters' Association issued a statement urging fans to remain peaceful: "We all need to make sure that there are no headlines in Manchester, to wipe out the memory of those made by the Italian police last week in Rome. The Roma fans at Old Trafford will be just like most of our fans who went to Rome last week and will be there only to watch the football."

Stephen Fitzsimons, who was stabbed in the groin by Roma hooligans last week, said he hoped for a peaceful match but feared that some Italian fans may be looking for trouble. "People say the hardcore element of Italian clubs don't travel, but I flew back two days ago and saw a few cocky Roma fans on the plane, who seemed to be sneering at us," he said. "I hope it goes off peacefully because any reprisals would probably be on innocent people, and I don't want anything to happen which the Roman authorities could use as justification for what they did to us. The best revenge would be for United to beat them on the pitch and knock them out of the cup."