The embarrassment of the Madrid derby goes around the world. Ultras of Athletic caused the suspension of the match against Real Madrid for more than a quarter of an hour by throwing objects, including several lighters, at Thibaut Courteous. The images embarrass Spanish football and once again highlight the radicals who still remain in the Metropolitano.
After the absurdity, the coach and captain of Atlético, Diego Pablo Simeone And koke Resurrectionthrew several “darts” at Courtois for what happened. They accused him of provoking violent reactions in the stands because of his way of celebrating the goal of Eder Military which shortly before put the score at 0-1.
“We, the protagonists, can help prevent things from happening. Those who provoke incidents and those who provoke must be punished. This is clearly seen when Courtois charges people and laughs,” Simeone told the press. Before, it was Koke who stressed that “we are professionals and we have to know where we are and be intelligent”, referring to the Belgian goalkeeper.
What neither Simeone nor Koke reported is that before this, before the alleged “provocation” of Courtois in the Real Madrid goal, the goalkeeper had been the subject of severe attacks coming from the same grandstand area. The songs of “Courteous, die!” They were clearly heard just before Militao’s goal and the Belgian, after his team took the lead, took revenge by holding out his fist and shouting “let’s go!” towards the southern end.
Then, what we already knew happened. Several lighters and a bottle of water were thrown at Courtois, who picked up some of these objects and handed them to the referee to denounce what was happening in his area. Referee Busquets Ferrer decided to stop the game because of these shots, activating the protocol, and subsequently the players and members of their respective coaching teams retired to the locker rooms.
Chants of “Courtois, die” at the Cívitas Metropolitano de La stadium @LaLiga of @tebasjavier and twisted face. Just before Militao’s goalpic.twitter.com/jIzTOp0RVd
– Rafa RNMJ Real Madrid (@RafaRNMJ) September 30, 2024
Before the suspension, there was another striking image, which was that of the crossing between Simeone and Courtois on the grass. The Argentine coach, who also asked for calm Athletic forehead with Koke and Giménezseemed to reproach the Madrid goalkeeper for his behavior during the goal celebration and his complaint to the referee. Courtois replied: “If you want me to stay there, with everything they throw at me.”
After a 17-minute break, the match resumes and Belt He scored the equalizer in injury time. The players ended up celebrating with fans in the same area as the incidents, prompting whistles from the rest of the stadium. Atlético and Police They managed to identify one of the lighter throwers, who also had a knife on him.
Madrid expels ultras after another ‘mecherazo’
In his speech after the incidents, Simeone also spoke of another episode in which Courtois was a victim while he was an Atlético player: “What happened should not happen, but Courtois also received lighters at the Bernabéu when he was Atlético goalkeeper.” declared the Argentine coach into the microphone. DAZN.
The truth is that it happened in May 2013, more than ten years ago, when Courtois defended the red and white goal and faced Real Madrid in the final of the King’s Cupdisputed in the Saint-Jacques Bernabéu. During the meeting, the Belgian was hit by a lighter thrown from the south, where the radical group Ultras Sud.
The reality is that a few months after this event, in December, Real Madrid made a historic decision: to expel the ultras from its stadium. The club chaired by Florentino Pérez announced the complete reorganization of the southern part with the creation of a new entertainment stand, where the most radical supporters will not have a place. The white club already showed the way ten years ago against the ultras and that, for the moment, it has not decided to undertake Atlético de Gil Marine And Henry cherry.