Marseille will complain to UEFA over the treatment of their fans and alleged racism during their match with Atletico Madrid.

Marseille president Pape Diouf admits he was left with a bitter taste following the incidents at Atletico's Vicente Calderon stadium, and believes European football's governing body needs to act.

The ugly scenes involving the travelling Marseille fans took place in the build-up to the match when supporters clashed with baton-wielding riot police and stewards for around 10 minutes in the away section of the ground.

Calm was eventually restored and there was no more obvious trouble in that section during the match, but Diouf was far from happy at the actions of the police, describing them as "very savage".

"It was an atmosphere heavy with undercurrents and violence unacceptable in stadiums which left us with a taste of ashes, a bitter taste," he said.

"We came here to play a Champions League match and we thought that Madrid was still a great footballing capital. What was even more questionable was the intervention and the very savage charge by the police who I think gave themselves the responsibility to go in and take away a flag from our supporters.

"That sparked off the beginning of a riot and could have caused a real catastrophe because if our supporters had wanted to react, we would have had a lot more serious cases than injuries to deplore. It was a dark night in all senses."

Guy Cazadamont, chief of security at Marseille, added: "The police came to take it (the banner) away. There was no dialogue, no listening to them. I felt sick. In three minutes all our work in preparing for the match was thrown out the window.

"There are at least four or five injured. It could have deteriorated even more. Luckily two French police had an important role."

Those crowd disturbances were not the only incidents that incurred Diouf's ire, with the Marseille chief claiming his club were again the victims of racist insults and questioning UEFA's approach to dealing with the problem.

"You have to also know that we have already been victims of these types of racist insults, it was at St Petersburg last season," said Diouf on his club's website.

"That wasn't worth more than just a 30,000 euro fine to that club. I understand, therefore, that this type of thing can happen again.

"What's upsetting is that the UEFA dignitaries want to impose themselves here or there to eradicate all forms of violence and racism from the stadiums, and yet, when you see how they punish these kind of acts when they happen, we could pose ourselves questions on the sincerity of their approach."

When asked if his club would be taking up the matter with UEFA, Diouf added: "That's certain because we can't just sit back and do nothing."

Atletico won the match 2-1 to move onto six points from their two Champions League matches, while Marseille are still searching for their first point.