Espanyol have plenty to be concerned about, with their place in La Liga in jeopardy with just four games to go, but now they will also be nervously awaiting their punishment for events on Sunday night against Barcelona.
As the Barcelona players celebrated on the pitch on Sunday night, Espanyol fans broke past security and charged for them. Fortunately, the players were able to get to the safety of the tunnel without incident, but Espanyol will still face punishment.
It was noted that referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea did not detail the incident in his report, being as he was already down the tunnel, but it will now fall upon La Liga and the Ministry of Sport to dole out punishment.
As per MD, the punishment will depend on how seriously the incident is classified and to what degree it was down to incompetent security measures.
The lighter fine that could be applicable is a €6k fine and the partial closure of the stadium for one match. The most serious categorisation woud lead to a fine between €18,001 and €90k, as well as a complete stadium ban ranging from one game to an entire season.
La Liga have already announced they will work with Espanyol in order to identify fans, and ban them from stadiums, as well as reporting the incidents to the authorities. A stadium closure for any length of time would have the added damage of loss of matchday revenue. Any significant ban would cost Espanyol millions and potentially act negatively on their players too.
