Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone spoke to the fans who threw objects onto the pitch during the Madrid derby against Real Madrid.
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Simeone calls out fans to stop throwing objects
The game was suspended midway through the second half by referee Mateo Busquets Ferrer after fans behind one of the Metropolitano’s goals repeatedly threw objects.
Those objects include plastic bottles and lighters.
Real Madrid’s Eder Militao scored the opening goal in the 64th minute, triggering chaos in the stands.
After the game was paused, Simeone and captain Koke pleaded the fans to calm down.
Simeone mentioned that Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois also fueled the situation, as the fans were targeting their former player.
“We all have to help,” Simeone told DAZN. “Obviously the fans throwing lighters — like what happened at the Bernabeu, when Courtois was our player, and was hit on the head with a lighter — isn’t right. But we the protagonists don’t help when we provoke the fans and the fans get angry.”
“[Throwing things] is wrong, it isn’t right. But we have to stay calm and understand the situation, know how we can celebrate a goal, not looking at the stands, with those gestures.”
“The message was to think about the club, think about your team,” Simeone said during the postgame conference. “You aren’t helping the team. They said it wasn’t their fault, they said they’d been provoked by the opposition goalkeeper.”
“We as protagonists can also help”
Atlético released a statement after the game, saying, “These behaviors have no place in football.”
LaLiga warned Atletico Madrid fans ahead of the game amid rumors that they would arrive at the stadium wearing masks.
The suspension lasted up to 20 minutes as fans continuously threw objects onto the pitch.
When play resumed, Angel Correa scored an equalizer in the 96th minute, resulting in a draw in the LaLiga Madrid derby.
“The club will take the decisions they have to take with the fans who’ve committed these incidents,” he said. “We don’t need those fans in the stands, we need the fans who support us and think about the team and the club.”
“It doesn’t justify it, but we as protagonists can also help, to make sure people don’t react like that. It doesn’t justify it, but be
