11 arrested during protests outside match between Aston Villa and Maccabi Tel Aviv  | OneFootball

Police arrested 11 people during protests outside the Europa League match between Aston Villa and Maccabi Tel Aviv on Thursday. 

Hundreds of pro-Palestine supporters descended on Birmingham calling for the fixture to be cancelled and for Israeli teams to be banned from multinational competitions. 

A smaller group of pro-Israeli campaigners also marched towards the ground to oppose the ban and to stand in solidarity with Maccabi fans. 

BBC report that more than 700 police officers were deployed for the politically-charged Europa League game. 

Police arrested five people on suspicion of racially aggravated public order offences. One was taken into custody after allegedly trying to throw fireworks into the ground, while another was apprehended on suspicion of possessing drugs. 

Apart from minor scuffles, the match at Villa Park took place without a major incident.

Villa edged past Maccabi 2-0, but it was far from a convincing display from Unai Emery’s men. 

The Midlands outfit were lacklustre for the majority of the first-half and Dor Peretz came close to breaking the deadlock for the visitors. 

Ian Maatsen struck the opening goal from a tight angle in first-half stoppage time before Donyell Malen added another from the penalty spot, securing victory that leaves Villa sixth in the league phase table after four games. 

The Lions had suffered a shocking 2-1 loss at Go Ahead Eagles last month, but they bounced back with a win to boost their chances of qualification for the knockouts.