Players and staff of Portuguese Super League giants Sporting Lisbon were reportedly attacked by around 50 masked fans on Tuesday.

According to Portuguese newspaper Correio da Manha, the fans broke into the team’s training ground and attacked both players and staff while they were preparing for Sunday’s Portuguese Cup final with Aves.

The newspaper also posted pictures of the club’s Dutch forward Bas Dost with several bad cuts on his head.

The fans are said to be furious with the club after they missed out on Champions League football for next season.

Sporting Lisbon while reacting to the unfortunate incident “vehemently condemned acts of vandalism and aggression to athletes”

A club statement read: “Sporting is not this, Sporting can not be this.

“We will make every effort to establish full responsibility for what has happened and we will demand the punishment of those who acted in this absolutely pitiful way.” the statement added.

The Portuguese League also released a statement “strongly condemning the violent acts”.

“The behaviours that are being reported by the press are regrettable and have no place in professional football. The perpetrators are not football fans, but criminals.”

The club had earlier released a statement to deny reports that head coach Jorge Jesus had been suspended.

Sporting Lisbon have constantly been in the news for unsavoury reasons.

In April, club president Bruno de Carvalho claimed to have suspended 19 first-team players following a UEFA Europa League (UEL) defeat by Atletico Madrid via a post on social media but it was deleted annd most of the players featured in their next game.