Atletico Madrid president Enrique Cerezo has confirmed that the club will do all that they can within their powers to track down the fans who threw missiles during Thursday’s game against Sevilla.
The Sevilla goalkeeper, Andres Palop, was struck by a full whisky bottle as he came under attack from the fans behind the goal who were angry at some of the decisions made by the referee. The bombardment forced the referee to halt proceedings and the game was topped for 30 minutes until order was restored.
“The truth is that it is impossible to understand how a glass bottle could be thrown onto the pitch,” said Cerezo.
“The stadium is completely covered by security cameras and we shall investigate to find those that are responsible. All the supporters are watched vigilantly.”
“What has happened is very sad because there will be consequences,” Cerezo added.
“These people do tremendous damage to the club because, in the end it will not be them that pay, it will be Atletico Madrid as we will now have to answer to the league.”
Palop admitted that he was worried for his safety after being hit by the bottle.
“I have never been through anything like it,” the keeper said. “If oranges or some fruit is thrown at me then I ignore it, but then I saw the whisky bottle and when I went near the goal more objects hit me and I genuinely feared for my physical well being.
“The referee did well to calm everything down.
“The game being stopped calmed everybody and we were then able to return to the pitch. Things were still thrown, but it was not serious at all and we were able to finish the match.
“One object hit me on the head and another on my back and then the full bottle hit me on the legs.”
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