Anyone who still believes that the Europa League is merely a distraction to a team’s domestic campaign need look no further than Everton’s passionate travelling contingent in Lille on Thursday. Huge numbers were being reported on Twitter on Wednesday morning, some claiming close to 20,000 away fans would be descending on the French city in anticipation of their team’s Group H clash against 2011 Ligue 1 champions, Lille. Although the final figure may have been closer to 10,000, there’s no doubt that the flame of the Europa League burns brightly on the blue side of Merseyside and that became clear to see inside the Stade Pierre-Mauroy on Thursday night. Around 10,000 Everton fans made the 300 mile journey to Lille to watch their side in Europa League action . Everton fans are revelling in their club's first European adventure since the 2009/10 season . Everton fans took over the main square in Lille ahead of their side's goalless draw in France . Blue shirts dominated almost two complete tiers of the stadium while hundreds of banners including the messages ‘Ross (Barkley) is boss’ and ‘Roberto (Martinez), we dream the same dream’ adorned the hoardings during a 0-0 draw which the Toffees remain top of their group. Although the Goodison Park faithful didn’t get the chance to celebrate a goal, Everton kept possession well and stuck to Martinez’s attacking style all while appreciating the importance of a draw away from home in Europe. Ross Barkley, who had to play with a bandage wrapped around his head for the majority of his European debut after an early collision, took to Twitter to praise the Everton fans. He tweeted: ’Good point and clean sheet, travelling fans were outstanding as always’. Unfortunately for Everton’s travelling contingent, what should be remembered as a brilliant away trip was slightly marred by two separate events which saw around 100 hooded Lille fans stage an unprovoked attack on unsuspecting Blues fans outside a bar on Wednesday night. Police arrived on the scene within minutes, but eye witnesses reported a number of injuries with some Everton fans suffering bloodied head wounds. A doorman at the Australian Bar told the Liverpool Echo: ’The Lille hooligans just appeared from the Place Louise de Bettignies across the road, from a side street, and just ran at the pub. There were some Everton fans outside smoking and they got caught cold. ‘The hooligans picked up chairs we had stacked up outside and attacked them while others used them to smash windows and try to get inside.’ The atmosphere was largely friendly but pockets of violence broke out on both Wednesday and Thursday . French riot police officers run after fans during clashes which broke out in the main square of Lille . Follow all the latest #UEL action on: . - Facebook - UEFAEuropaLeague . - Twitter - EuropaLeague . - Website - uefa.com . A second incident occurred on Thursday afternoon as fans soaked up the pre-match atmosphere in the heart of Lille’s city centre before riot police released three tear gas bombs while charging towards what they clearly believed to be a unruly group of Everton fans. The general consensus in the aftermath of both incidents seemed to be that the away support had been the victims of their second unprovoked attack in as many days as the official Everton Twitter account warned fans to stay away from the area. The club tweeted on Thursday afternoon: ‘We advise Everton fans in Lille to avoid the main square in the city centre.’ Fortunately, there seemed to be no further incidents after the game itself as Sportsmail reporter Elliott Bretland took to Twitter to reveal some fun and games between fans and police. He wrote: ‘Police had a microphone to speak to fans at metro... a fan grabs it and starts: ‘60 grand, Seamus Coleman’... They let him do two choruses!’ At any rate, the Evertonians didn’t let the two isolated incidents dampen their spirits as they travelled in their numbers to fill out their 5,000 seat allocation as well as popping up in several pockets within the home support. Both sets of fans traded chants during the early stages of the game itself before a spell of pressure from the home side saw Lille fans turn the volume up to 11 inside the 50,0000 capacity Stade Pierre-Mauroy. VIDEO A hard fought point - Martinez . Tim Howard salutes the Toffees faithful after he kept a clean sheet in Everton's goalless draw in Lille . Leighton Baines and Samuel Eto'o applaud the visiting fans who made the journey in large numbers . Not to be outdone, Everton fans got behind their team with several renditions of ‘Allez, Allez, Allez, Oh’ despite an at times nervy performance from Martinez’s side. Speaking shortly after the game, Blues boss Martinez also took time to praise the fans, while claiming their support will drive Everton’s push for European glory. He said: ‘It amazes me every day, the day-to-day support we receive. ‘It gives everybody at the Club more strength to keep progressing and to keep having more nights like this in Europe, because that is what our fans deserve.’ Unfortunately for the fans in blue, Everton couldn’t quite build on their impressive 3-0 against Aston Villa last weekend as Divick Origi and Co looked like a lively proposition, particularly for the first 45 minutes. Liverpool loanee Origi will have endeared himself to his parent club with an impressive performance against his Merseyside rivals to be. The young Belgian’s highlight came in the 20th minute as he skipped past Leighton Baines before storming away from Sylvain Distin in a move that will have left Reds fans salivating. With the Europa League being the gateway to the Champions League for the first time, Everton fans know going all the way this season will hand Martinez’s side a spot at Europe’s top table, which each Toffee will tell you is well worth the 320-mile trip to northern France. Their Road to Warsaw may have only just begun but Everton players have been given a fantastic reason to care about this competition. The passion and desire shown from the blue side of Merseyside was something to behold and may just see Martinez collect his first major trophy as Blues boss. Gareth Barry vies for the ball with Lille's French midfielder Florent Balmont as neither side could find a winner . Lille's Senegalese defender Pape Souare attempts to stop Everton's Christian Atsu launch an attack . Follow all the latest #UEL action on Facebook: @UEFAEuropaLeague / Twitter: @EuropaLeague and at uefa.com .
Up to 10,000 Everton fans travelled to Lille for Europa League clash .
Everton filled 5,000 seat allocation as well as sections of home end .
Roberto Martinez’s side play out 0-0 draw against French side to remain top .
Lille fans attacked Everton fans during first of two reported incidents .
Riot police used tear gas against Blues fans on Thursday afternoon .
Martinez and Ross Barkley praise Everton’s travelling contingent .
Anyone who still believes that the Europa League is merely a distraction to a team’s domestic campaign need look no further than Everton’s passionate travelling contingent in Lille on Thursday. Huge numbers were being reported on Twitter on Wednesday morning, some claiming close to 20,000 away fans would be descending on the French city in anticipation of their team’s Group H clash against 2011 Ligue 1 champions, Lille. Although the final figure may have been closer to 10,000, there’s no doubt that the flame of the Europa League burns brightly on the blue side of Merseyside and that became clear to see inside the Stade Pierre-Mauroy on Thursday night. Around 10,000 Everton fans made the 300 mile journey to Lille to watch their side in Europa League action . Everton fans are revelling in their club's first European adventure since the 2009/10 season . Everton fans took over the main square in Lille ahead of their side's goalless draw in France . Blue shirts dominated almost two complete tiers of the stadium while hundreds of banners including the messages ‘Ross (Barkley) is boss’ and ‘Roberto (Martinez), we dream the same dream’ adorned the hoardings during a 0-0 draw which the Toffees remain top of their group. Although the Goodison Park faithful didn’t get the chance to celebrate a goal, Everton kept possession well and stuck to Martinez’s attacking style all while appreciating the importance of a draw away from home in Europe. Ross Barkley, who had to play with a bandage wrapped around his head for the majority of his European debut after an early collision, took to Twitter to praise the Everton fans. He tweeted: ’Good point and clean sheet, travelling fans were outstanding as always’. Unfortunately for Everton’s travelling contingent, what should be remembered as a brilliant away trip was slightly marred by two separate events which saw around 100 hooded Lille fans stage an unprovoked attack on unsuspecting Blues fans outside a bar on Wednesday night. Police arrived on the scene within minutes, but eye witnesses reported a number of injuries with some Everton fans suffering bloodied head wounds. A doorman at the Australian Bar told the Liverpool Echo: ’The Lille hooligans just appeared from the Place Louise de Bettignies across the road, from a side street, and just ran at the pub. There were some Everton fans outside smoking and they got caught cold. ‘The hooligans picked up chairs we had stacked up outside and attacked them while others used them to smash windows and try to get inside.’ The atmosphere was largely friendly but pockets of violence broke out on both Wednesday and Thursday . French riot police officers run after fans during clashes which broke out in the main square of Lille . Follow all the latest #UEL action on: . - Facebook - UEFAEuropaLeague . - Twitter - EuropaLeague . - Website - uefa.com . A second incident occurred on Thursday afternoon as fans soaked up the pre-match atmosphere in the heart of Lille’s city centre before riot police released three tear gas bombs while charging towards what they clearly believed to be a unruly group of Everton fans. The general consensus in the aftermath of both incidents seemed to be that the away support had been the victims of their second unprovoked attack in as many days as the official Everton Twitter account warned fans to stay away from the area. The club tweeted on Thursday afternoon: ‘We advise Everton fans in Lille to avoid the main square in the city centre.’ Fortunately, there seemed to be no further incidents after the game itself as Sportsmail reporter Elliott Bretland took to Twitter to reveal some fun and games between fans and police. He wrote: ‘Police had a microphone to speak to fans at metro... a fan grabs it and starts: ‘60 grand, Seamus Coleman’... They let him do two choruses!’ At any rate, the Evertonians didn’t let the two isolated incidents dampen their spirits as they travelled in their numbers to fill out their 5,000 seat allocation as well as popping up in several pockets within the home support. Both sets of fans traded chants during the early stages of the game itself before a spell of pressure from the home side saw Lille fans turn the volume up to 11 inside the 50,0000 capacity Stade Pierre-Mauroy. VIDEO A hard fought point - Martinez . Tim Howard salutes the Toffees faithful after he kept a clean sheet in Everton's goalless draw in Lille . Leighton Baines and Samuel Eto'o applaud the visiting fans who made the journey in large numbers . Not to be outdone, Everton fans got behind their team with several renditions of ‘Allez, Allez, Allez, Oh’ despite an at times nervy performance from Martinez’s side. Speaking shortly after the game, Blues boss Martinez also took time to praise the fans, while claiming their support will drive Everton’s push for European glory. He said: ‘It amazes me every day, the day-to-day support we receive. ‘It gives everybody at the Club more strength to keep progressing and to keep having more nights like this in Europe, because that is what our fans deserve.’ Unfortunately for the fans in blue, Everton couldn’t quite build on their impressive 3-0 against Aston Villa last weekend as Divick Origi and Co looked like a lively proposition, particularly for the first 45 minutes. Liverpool loanee Origi will have endeared himself to his parent club with an impressive performance against his Merseyside rivals to be. The young Belgian’s highlight came in the 20th minute as he skipped past Leighton Baines before storming away from Sylvain Distin in a move that will have left Reds fans salivating. With the Europa League being the gateway to the Champions League for the first time, Everton fans know going all the way this season will hand Martinez’s side a spot at Europe’s top table, which each Toffee will tell you is well worth the 320-mile trip to northern France. Their Road to Warsaw may have only just begun but Everton players have been given a fantastic reason to care about this competition. The passion and desire shown from the blue side of Merseyside was something to behold and may just see Martinez collect his first major trophy as Blues boss. Gareth Barry vies for the ball with Lille's French midfielder Florent Balmont as neither side could find a winner . Lille's Senegalese defender Pape Souare attempts to stop Everton's Christian Atsu launch an attack . Follow all the latest #UEL action on Facebook: @UEFAEuropaLeague / Twitter: @EuropaLeague and at uefa.com .
passionate travelling contingent in Lille on 10,000 Everton fans made the 300 mile journey to Lille to watch their side in Europa League action and ‘Roberto (Martinez), we dream the same dream’ adorned the hoardings during a 0-0 draw which the Toffees remain top of their group. Although the home in Europe. Ross Barkley, who had to play Unfortunately for Everton’s travelling incident occurred on Thursday afternoon as fans released three tear gas bombs while charging numbers to fill out their 5,000 seat allocation as well as popping up in several pockets within