FC Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez has revealed he asked his players to head for the dressing room to celebrate their title win out of respect for the fans of city rivals Espanyol.
- Barcelona win 27th league title
- Xavi asked players not to celebrate on the pitch
- Espanyol fans invaded the pitch
What is the news?
Xavi and Barcelona claimed the LaLiga title on Sunday after the Catalans beat their city rivals Espanyol 4-2. Shortly after the match, the Barcelona players celebrated the league title on the pitch and that led to anger among the fans of Espanyol, who then invaded the pitch. After the game Xavi revealed he had already asked the players to move the festivities indoors as he felt it wasn’t respectful to the fans of Espanyol.
What did Xavi say?
Speaking to reporters after the game, the Barcelona boss said, “I have told them to stop inside because I think it is enough. The celebration is normal, but it was respectful to go to the booth because we were not at home. I am rational. But emotions are difficult to control. We celebrated it not because we were in Espanyol’s camp but for the title. We’re not at home.”
“I haven’t seen if anything else has happened, I’ve gone inside. We shouldn’t give it more importance. We shouldn’t create controversy. I thought it was time to go in, there was We have to celebrate it inside as a family. We haven’t provoked anyone. We were celebrating a League that is very important to us.”
What is next ?
The Catalans have four games to play in LaLiga and will be playing against Real Sociedad. Meanwhile, Espanyol are on the verge of losing the battle against relegation. The club currently sits in 19th position on the table and have a four point gap towards the safe positions.
