players "a waste of space" in an angry
confrontation following an ill-tempered Copa del
Rey match between the local rivals on Wednesday
night.
The physical match ended 4-1 in Barca's favour,
with eight Espanyol players booked during
proceedings and two sent off.
After the final whistle, a scuffle between the two
teams occurred in the tunnel where, according to
referee Martinez Munuera's report, the former
Liverpool man taunted his opponents.
"At the end of the game, once in the tunnel,
Barca's No. 9, Suarez, Luis, while the Espanyol
players were coming up the stairs, waited for
them and shouted at them on various occasions,"
the report says, according to the Mirror.
"He said: 'I'm waiting for you, come here! You're a
waste of space.'
"It provoked a confrontation between players of
both clubs and the present security guards had
to get involved, as did coaches of both teams."
Andreas Iniesta played down the incident in his
post-match interview, saying that a heated
contest is part and parcel to local derbies.
"Violence is a very strong word, in games like this
there's a lot of rivalry and contact," he said.
Later, Espanyol midfielder Papakouli Diop was less
diplomatic when speaking to Cadena SER: "You
can't say we were violent. We didn't draw blood.
If we wanted, Barca players would've left on a
stretcher."
Espanyol will host the return leg of the Copa del
Rey tie on Jan. 13.
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