Spectators were evacuated from Real Madrid’s Bernabeu stadium on Sunday after a bomb scare halted the match against Real Sociedad.

More than 70,000 people were evacuated from the ground with the score at 1-1 and only three minutes remaining.

The Basque newspaper Gara received a telephone call saying a bomb was had been planted at the stadium.

But after searching the stadium with sniffer dogs, the police said that no explosive device had been found.

“The police have said they have completed their search and have not found anything,” said Real Madrid president Florentino Perez.

“The best thing we can all do now is to put this nightmare behind us.

“The police said the threat was a credible one and that’s why we decided to evacuate the stadium a quarter of an hour before the deadline. The evacuation plan worked to perfection.”

Real took the lead just before the break when Brazilian striker Ronaldo cracked home with his left foot.

Sociedad levelled the match midway through the second half through Turkish striker Nihat Kahveci.

Spanish football authorities will hold a meeting on Monday to decide if the remaining three minutes of the game will be played at a later date or if the result will be allowed to stand.

If the result stays at 1-1, Real will drop to third place in the table, 11 points behind leaders Barcelona, who beat Albacete on Saturday.