Espanyol fans leave seats and call for Barcelona match to be ABANDONED after major incident outside stadium
Espanyol fans were seen leaving their seats during the La Liga clash against Barcelona after a major incident occurred outside their stadium.
Minutes prior to kick-off, a video posted to social media showed a car running over a group of spectators outside the RCDE Stadium.
The match itself kicked off but was briefly halted on eight minutes as referee Cesar Soto Grado communicated with both sets of technical staff and police.
Espanyol subsequently stated over their PA system, as per reports, that there were no serious injuries.
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However, ITV Sport's Guillem Balague subsequently reported during half-time that, out of the 13 injuries suffered, four people had suffered serious injuries.
Marca report that Spanish police were working 'on the hypothesis' that the driver of the car 'lost control and it was an accident'.
But Espanyol fans made their feelings clear on the match being restarted.
Large groups of supporters had noticeably left their seats, with sections of the stadium visibly empty when TV cameras panned over to them.
Sport claim that fans had initially demanded that the match be called off due to the major incident, and had showed their displeasure while leaving the stadium.
Prior to the stoppage, Espanyol goalkeeper Joan Garcia was seen in communication with home supporters behind the goal, before he and another player gestured towards referee Soto Grado to halt the match.
After discussions with police, the match resumed two minutes later and continued to half-time, with the scores at 0-0.
Barcelona went into the evening knowing that a win would ensure they become La Liga champions, with Flick's side currently five points ahead of Real Madrid with a further two games to be played.
A point will also likely be enough to secure the title due to their far superior goal difference over rivals Real.
Ryan Smart