It’s never good when a football stadium looks more like a warzone. On Saturday, the Marele Derby (Great Derby) between Steaua Bucharest and Dinamo Bucharest in Romania descended into chaos as the game was interrupted three times when fans of both teams fired flares at each other, and lobbed smoke bombs onto the pitch.

The video below shows the acrid atmospher, in what’s always a tense game, especially given the two clubs have won 23 of the past 26 Romanian titles between them. Dinamo fans once set a section of Steaua’s stadium (Stadionul Ghencea) on fire.

It only got worse, as Soccernet explains after the jump.

Television footage showed police handcuffing rioting fans outside the stadium before the game. The fans were seen smashing windows of police cars and destroying traffic signs.

A riot police officer told Realitatea TV that two policemen had been injured during the clashes.

Inside, the two teams had to suspend their warm-up on the pitch for several minutes after police used teargas to stop fans from destroying plastic seats in the stands.

The longest of the interruptions during the match lasted eight minutes with the teams retreating to the changing rooms to avoid the acrid smoke.

And here’s a video of the Dinamo ultras, launching flares at the Steaua supporters:

Steaua won the game 1-0, if that matters.

Edit: Here’s an odd postscript to this story — the fans apparently hid the explosives in their underwear.

I suppose one has to admire their commitment.