CYPRIOT police used batons and pepper spray on Aberdeen fans in violent clashes after the Scottish club was knocked out of the Europa League third qualifying round.
The trouble followed the 2-0 loss at Apollon Limassol in Larnaca, which had earlier been interrupted by home supporters throwing flares onto the pitch, with one landing a few feet away from Dons goalkeeper Joe Lewis.
Referee Stephan Klossner considered abandoning the tie unless things improved, according to reports.
Later, with fighting breaking out in the stands, the Scots fans were taunted by home fans, which further inflamed a volatile situation.
Punches and kicks were exchanged before riot police wielding batons and pepper spray at fans quickly took over.
Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes told BBC Radio Scotland: "I have not spoken to Joe about it but you could see it was a difficult situation with the smoke covering that whole area.
"It is ridiculous behaviour, that we have to deal with that.
"It didn't help the flow of the game in the second half but I don't think he was damaged, I don't think it affected him too much.
"We expected it to be a wee bit volatile and plenty of passion from the side but it did boil over at times.
"I am hearing our fans got treated terribly as well by the stewards here, steaming in with flares and tear gas and everything else to defuse the situation.
"I didn't get to see it but I am hearing it second hand and you seen some of the stuff that was going on, things getting thrown on to the pitch, people spitting into the dugout, flares getting thrown on - that's when you should have seen the stewards being more visible, not treating our fans the way they did."
The Dons' 2-1 lead from the first leg of the third qualifying round at Pittodrie was cancelled out and more in the 17th minute when Apollon attacker Andre Schembri fired in from 14 yards.
Aberdeen stepped up their efforts but home substitute Emilio Zelaya added a second in the 86th minute to sink the men from the Granite City.
McInnes said: "It was a real disappointment. They scored with their first ball in the box, really.
"We threw caution to the wind a wee bit and got done with the second goal.
"It was a missed opportunity for us.
"I don't want to bleat too much about the opportunities we missed but we did have good chances.
"We don't want pats on the back for being unlucky. We were beaten fair and square and I feel we have only ourselves to blame."
A statement issued fromt the club said: "Following incidents at the end of this evening's match in Larnaca, the Club can confirm it has commenced dialogue with the stadium operators, Apollon Limassol and the authorities.
"As part of this, the Club has requested that CCTV footage is interrogated in order to assist matters.
"The club will not be making any further comment until the conclusion of this comprehensive investigation."
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