No arrests after Champions final

By Chris Baldwin and James Kilner

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Thousands of English football fans flew out of Moscow on Thursday after a Champions League final that passed off with no reports of serious trouble among supporters.

Moscow city police said there had been no arrests among more than 40,000 visiting fans. In the first all-English Champions League final, Manchester United beat Chelsea in a penalty shootout.

"Everything was calm, there were no big fights," said a police spokesman.

"The fans, both Russian and English, were followed by policemen to provide a stable and calm situation at night. No one was detained."

There had been fears of a repeat of the violence that marred the UEFA Cup final in Manchester this month between Scottish side Rangers and Zenit St Petersburg of Russia. The spokesman said 5,000 police had been on duty.

A British embassy spokesman praised the Russian authorities' handling of the event, the first time in nine years that Moscow had hosted the final of a major European soccer tournament.

"The security and organisational facilities the Russians put in place have worked out fantastically," said the spokesman.

"We've seen literally a handful of cases, none of which we class as serious. We're not aware of any arrests," he said.