Espanyol blame Barca players for inciting violence

chuu

Espanyol are planning to report certain Barcelona players to thepolice for inciting the violent scenes which marred Saturday's La Ligaderby in the Catalan capital.

Espanyol fans deal with a flare thrown by Barca 'fans' during the derby at the Montjuic.



Thematch, which Barca won 2-1 in dramatic style thanks to two late goals,was stopped and the players left the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companyspitch for several minutes during the second half following ugly scenesin the stands where flares were thrown in the direction of the homefans.
Five people were detained by police and an investigationhas been launched following the trouble, with Espanyol insisting theywill seek to prosecute those responsible, and among those Espanyol deemculpable are several members of the Barcelona team.
"[The club]will report the provocative behaviour of some of the [Barcelona]players to the anti-violence commission," Espanyol general directorPedro Tomas told Spanish newspaper Marca.
Tomas claimedthe Barca players' celebrations after their goal were excessive andfelt some players "encouraged and provoked the violent members of thecrowd."
However, despite the complaint against the players, Tomasadmitted the scenes in the stadium constituted a "premeditated attackorganised over the internet against Espanyol fans" by hooligans whowanted to mark the final derby game at the Montjuic-based stadiumbefore Espanyol move to the newly constructed Estadio Cornellá-El Pratnext season.
In the week leading up to the game an announcement was posted on the website of the notorious Boixos Nois,a Barcelona supporters group who were banned from attending Barcelonagames by club president Joan Laporta at the start of his reign in 2003and who were subsequently involved in sending death threats to Laportaand his family.
The announcement said the group planned to "give(the Espanyol fans) the send-off they deserve". Espanyol are reportedlyset to receive a 2,000 to 3,000 euros fine for each flare thrown.
Tomas,who will meet with security secretary of the Generalitat (autonomousCatalan government) to discuss measures to prevent the sale of ticketsto fans with a history of violence, defended his club's role in theincident.
"The private security services in the stadium did nothave adequate support from the police to carry out their work andsearch those attending the game," he continued in El Mundo Deportivo.
"Thesale of tickets is completely free, we cannot do a thing unless we arestopped by the government. It was a sad day for Espanyol, for footballand for Catalonia and we have to do something so that this does nothappen again. In 30 years I've never seen anything like it. And we allneed to act to change it."
Thierry Henry defended his actionsduring the game, claiming he celebrated his first goal in eight gameswith no more vigour than he would have shown against any other side.
"Itwas a derby and I celebrated my goal with the same energy as I did atArsenal, with no extra enthusiasm" he told French newspaper L'Equipe. "But us, the players, we didn't see what happened exactly. Our job was to try and win the game."
OnSunday Laporta condemned the actions of the five supporters arrested,and insisted his players in no way contributed to the troubles.
"Peopleshouted at me as if I was responsible for what was happening," he said."I can only tell them we take absolutely no responsibility and thatBarca have spent six years taking measures in order to stop these kindsof incidents from happening in the stadium.
"I want to beabsolutely clear that Barcelona players condemn violent acts.Furthermore, not all the fans who were there acted violently. So whenit comes to the Barca players I won't hear a word said against them."