Updated

British police have released footage of a soccer hooligan who bit off part of a fan's ear at the Champions League final in Rome.

The man lunged at his victim during the start of May's European Cup clash between Manchester United and Barcelona before disappearing into the crowd.

Greater Manchester Police have now recovered mobile phone footage from a spectator who filmed the aftermath of the savage attack.

Officers said the 46-year-old victim had intervened during a fight between the man and a woman outside the stadium about an hour before the match.

The suspect — wearing a blue Manchester United away shirt with the letters DEE and number 38 on the back — threatened the victim and the men went their separate ways.

But shortly before the match started, the suspect spotted the victim inside the stadium and without provocation, launched the attack.

Det Con Alex Robinson, from Greater Manchester Police's Force Football Intelligence Unit, said: "The victim had done absolutely nothing to warrant such a vicious attack and has been left permanently scarred by the assault.

"As any decent person would, he simply came to the aid of a woman who was being picked upon by this man outside the stadium but thought that was the end of the matter."

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