Manchester City stewards confiscated a "Free Pussy Riot" banner displayed during the club's Champions League win over CSKA Moscow.
The banner was actually unfurled by City fans in the home section, but overzealous stewards swiftly intervened and removed it to protect Uefa's neutral status
Three members of Pussy Riot were jailed after a performance on the soleas of Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Savior last year.
The "Free Pussy Riot" banner was briefly on display at the Etihad Stadium
It is the second banner casualty in the Champions League this season, after Greenpeace activists' anti-Gazprom stunt during Basel and Schalke's match in October.
Militants abseiled down from the St. Jakob-Park roof and revealed a banner protesting against the Champions League sponsor.
The banner read "Don't foul the Arctic" and heralded The "Arctic 30", referring to the 30 activists recently detained by Russian authorities in the Arctic after two of them tried to scale a Gazprom oil platform.