Barca tie to be played behind closed doors
Lacklustre Atletico held in Leganes stalemate
Barcelona’s La Liga match against Las Palmas was planned to be played behind closed doors yesterday after the Spanish league refused to postpone the match.
At least 91 people have been injured in clashes between police and activists in Catalonia yesterday over an independence referendum for the region deemed illegal by the Spanish government.
“FC Barcelona condemns the events which have taken place in many parts of Catalonia today in order to prevent its citizens exercising their democratic right to free expression,” Barcelona said in a statement.
“Given the exceptional nature of these events, the board of directors has decided that the first-team game against Las Palmas will be played behind closed doors, following the Professional Football League’s refusal to postpone the game.”
Had Barca unilaterally decided to not fulfil the fixture they faced a likely sanction of Las Palmas being awarded victory and a fine from the football authorities.
A section of Barcelona fans’ groups had threatened a peaceful pitch invasion to show their disgust at events at the polling stations if the game was not suspended.
Earlier, Las Palmas announced they will wear a Spanish flag on their shirts as a show of support for a united Spain.
Saturday’s matches: La Liga
Deportivo Sevilla Levante Leganes 2 2 0 0 Getafe Malaga Alaves Atletico
Paris SG 6 Bordeaux Dijon 1 Strasbourg Guingamp 1 Toulouse Nantes 1 Metz Rennes 0 Caen Amiens vs Lille (Match abandoned due to crowd safety incident)
Italian Serie A
Udinese Genoa
4 0
Sampdoria Bologna 1 0 2 0
2 1 1 0 1 0 1
Outspoken Barca defender Gerard Pique posted a picture of him casting his vote early yesterday.
“I have voted. Together we are unstoppable defending democracy,” said Pique.
Meanwhile, Atletico Madrid’s poor week following Champions League defeat by Chelsea continued as they lost more ground in the La Liga title race in a 0-0 draw at modest Madrid neighbours Leganes on Saturday.
But for a brilliant secondhalf save from Jan Oblak to deny Nabil El Zhar, Leganes could even have registered their first ever win over Atletico in the top flight.
A third draw in seven games this season sees Atletico fall a point behind Sevilla, who moved up to second earlier with a 2-0 win over Malaga.
Atletico boss Diego Simeone made four changes from the team that started against Chelsea in an attempt to refresh his side.