Diego Simeone insisted that Atlético Madrid “do not need these people in our stands” after the derby against Real Madrid was stopped for 15 minutes and the players were taken off the pitch because of missiles thrown at Thibaut Courtois.
The Atlético coach Simeone and his captain Koke approached the south end in an attempt to get them to stop while defender Joséma Giménez got involved in a discussion with supporters, including some wearing balaclavas, before the referee, Mateo Busquets Ferrer, took the teams off the pitch. “I hope these people don’t come back to the stadium,” Koke said.
Simeone, though, was also critical of Courtois’s part in provoking what he called the “unjustifiable” incidents, insisting: “Those of us who are protagonists have to be careful with what we generate, and I include myself.”
The players were taken off with the clock on 68.55, after two announcements over the loudspeaker failed to prevent objects being thrown at the Real goalkeeper. There were discussions between the two captains, Koke and Luka Modric. Initially withdrawn for 10 minutes, in line with La Liga protocols, the teams eventually came back out and the game restarted quarter of an hour later.
According to the protocols, another incident would have led to the permanent suspension of the match. Fortunately, that did not happen and Carlo Ancelotti said that the referee had done the right thing, but the fallout will continue. Perhaps the best city derby in Europe – the only one to have been played out in a Champions League final – has been marked with abuse in recent years, including racist chanting aimed at Vinícius Júnior, and now it had been suspended – 1-0 down to an Eder Militão goal when they departed, Ángel Correa scored a 95th-minute equaliser for the home side, the ball finally bundled over the line at 23.11 at night.
The trouble, which occurred at the end where Atlético’s radical far-right ultras stand among the supporters, started immediately after Madrid took the lead in the second half. Courtois celebrated Militão’s strike by turning to the supporters behind the goal. A couple of objects were thrown at him, which he initially threw to the side of the pitch. When others were thrown, he alerted the referee and threw aside what appeared to be lighters. An initial announcement was made, and Simeone gestured for supporters to use their head but more objects were thrown, including bottles and a plastic bag.
With Simeone and Koke appealing for the fans to stop, Busquets Ferrer brought the game to a halt. Simeone, on the pitch, had words with Courtois. “I told him to be calm, but I also said that [what he did] absolutely does not justify this: we do not need these people,” Simeone said. “We need to be careful with acting the victim – you see clearly that Courtois went to the fans [gesturing] and laughs and that makes this happen too.”
Then the captain and the coach, along with Giménez, went to the end. There was a discussion between a man in a balaclava with a skull on it and Giménez. As they spoke, water came down upon the defender.
“The message to them was: think about the club, the team, your team,” Simeone said of those conversations with supporters. “You’re not helping your team. What they were saying was that it was not their fault, that he was provoking them. That does not justify it but I am saying that we have to punish those of us who provoke too.”
“We don’t need these people in our stands. We need people who support us, who think about the club and the team,” Simeone added. “The person who throws a lighter should not come any more. It happened to Courtois at the Bernabéu once when he played for us. It happens and it will happen again. Should it happen? No! But be careful with playing the victim. We have to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”
“They felt provoked but that doesn’t justify it and it cannot happen,” Koke said. “We should be talking about the football and I hope it doesn’t happen again. This cannot happen: four, five, six, 10 or 20 people have stained the image of the club.”
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Mostly the actual football wasn’t very good. A game with few chances had seen Madrid take the lead when Militão fired in following a quick free kick and a Vinícius cross, which was when the trouble started. Eventually, the teams returned. It would not be true to say that no one cared any more, even if the events overshadowed the whole evening. Atlético went in search of the equaliser, were much improved after the stoppage, and the place erupted when Correa ran through, got beyond Courtois and bundled the ball into the net. Initially ruled out for offside, VAR reinstated the goal. There was still time for the hosts’ Marcos Llorente to be sent off for a crude tackle.
“An episode that should not have happened benefited us,” Simeone admitted.
