In a bizarre incident, some fans of RCD Espanyol were said to have smuggled a severed head of a pig to throw at Barcelona defender Gerard Pique during their Copa del Rey Round of 16 second leg clash at the Estadi Cornellà-El Prat on Thursday.
Barcelona won the tie 2-0 and progressed to the quarterfinals of the knockout tournament courtesy of a 6-1 aggregate result. Barca had won the first leg 4-1 at the Nou Camp earlier in the month.
Ahead of the second leg match between the sides, the outspoken and fairly controversial Pique had directed jibes at their fierce city rivals on Twitter regarding Espanyol’s alleged inability to fill seats in their stadium, the Estadi Cornellà-El Prat for home ties.
This action from the defender seemed to have infuriated the Espanyol faithful as they prepared themselves with offensive banners for the game which was directed against himself along with his pop star wife Shakira and teammate Luis Suarez. Huge banners which read ‘Shakira is everybody’s’ and ‘Antonio de la Rua, everything started with you’ – Antonio de la Rua being Shakira’s former flame.
However, the most astonishing story was that of the fans carrying the severed head of a pig to throw at the defender and were reportedly trying to recreate the infamous incident which saw Barcelona fans throwing a pig’s head at Portugal legend Luis Figo after he had left the Catalan club to join arch-rivals Real Madrid.
Fortunately for the defender, Luis Enrique had started him on the bench and never required his services as he remained an unused substitute.
The two-legged Catalan derby was fraught with unsavoury moments throughout and was an ill-tempered affair. The first leg at the Camp Nou saw two red cards being dished out for Espanyol players while the return leg saw seven yellow cards handed out to players from both camps.
Striker Luis Suarez was handed a two-match ban for his alleged involvement in a fracas between the two camps in the tunnel after the match and was accused of trying to incite the same. Also, there were separate incidents which saw Barca icon and newly crowned Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi getting into arguments with 21-year-old Espanyol keeper Pau Lopez and defender Alvaro Gonzalez over the two legs.
