This is Frenkie de Jong’s first tournament with his team, Barcelona. Barcelona has a 14-point lead over arch-rival Real Madrid, and with four games remaining, they can no longer catch up. The Spanish senior team could benefit from a national title, as the club has had a number of bad years. Partly because of financial problems, the results were delayed.
Barcelona was already 3-0 ahead of Espanyol before the end of the first half. Robert Lewandowski showed with two goals why he is one of the best strikers in the world. In the second half, De Jong provided an assist that gave the team a 4-0 lead. Espanyol managed to score two more goals in the match, but it could no longer spoil Barcelona’s celebration of the tournament.
Field assault
Espanyol is in 19th place and appears to be relegated. The club is four points behind Real Valladolid and Cádiz, so they must win their next four matches. So Espanyol fans were already dissatisfied with their club. Barcelona’s championship party was the final straw, leading to dozens of spectators storming the field.
Naturally, De Jong and his teammates were full of joy and celebrated the title in a large circle in the center. The matter did not stop at a loud flute concert, because soon the first rioters arrived in the square. Barcelona players ran quickly and security had to intervene. The invasion produced disturbing images.
On Monday morning, La Liga announced that it would take action against Espanyol fans who ran onto the pitch and destroyed television cameras. Identifiable fans will not return to football stadiums for the time being.
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