The referee in charge of Sunday’s Madrid derby stopped the match midway through the second half after Atletico Madrid fans threw objects onto the pitch shortly after rivals Real Madrid took a 1-0 lead.
Eder Militao’s strike in the 64th minute gave the visitors the lead in a closely contested match, but minutes later Atletico Madrid fans pelted objects at Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. A series of lighters were spotted on the pitch, which Courtois then threw aside before referee Mateo Busquets Ferrer suspended the match in the 69th minute.
Announcements were made at the Wanda Metropolitano warning fans not to disrupt the match again, and match messages were also shown on screens in the stadium.
As the players made their way to the tunnel, Atletico Madrid players and staff walked towards the fans, some of whom continued to litter the pitch. Jose Maria Gimenez and Koke begged fans to stop this behavior, as did manager Diego Simeone, who pointed to his head as if to suggest fans think before disrupting the match.
Play resumed around 21 minutes after Busquets Ferrer interrupted the match, and Atletico then scored the equalizer thanks to Angel Correa’s strike in the fifth minute of stoppage time. When the match returned, La Liga issued a statement condemning the disorderly conduct.
“Zero tolerance for any act of violence inside or outside our stadiums,” the league said in a message short response shared on social media.
The incident was blamed on ultra group Frente Atletico, according to The Athletic. Four members of that group were charged in December 2023 for hanging an effigy of Real Madrid’s Vincius Junior near the club’s training ground earlier that year, and were deemed responsible for racist abuse suffered by Athletic Bilbao’s Nico Williams at the Metropolitano in April this year. The match against Athletic was also stopped by the referee, and Koke and Gimenez were also spotted telling fans to stop the racist abuse. Atletico received a partial stadium ban for two matches due to the incident.
Many expected there could be disruptive behavior during Sunday’s Madrid derby. A group of Atletico fans launched a pre-game campaign to wear masks at the Metropolitano Stadium to avoid being caught breaking La Liga’s anti-discrimination policy. according to the Associated Presssomething the league asked police to take action on before kickoff. Injured Real Madrid star Kylian Mbappe, meanwhile, was discouraged by his club from attending the match to support his teammates. according to L’Equipeand watched it from home.
Although La Liga policy allows referees to abandon matches involving disruptive fan behaviour, including discriminatory abuse, Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak told broadcasters in a post-match interview that this was not something that occurred to him. He also condemned the fans’ behavior but minimized the impact players can have in stamping out such behavior.
“It happens all the time, not just here… I’m not defending anyone. These things aren’t right, so the referee was right to stop the match,” he told ESPN. “It’s certainly not a nice image for football. It’s sad, but what can we do? Initially we are on the field, the field to play, to give everything for ourselves and we don’t have everything in the hand. I hope in the future these things will not happen again, that we will just see a beautiful picture of football.”