Spain and Portugal: Riots overshadow cup games in Bilbao and Lisbon

Sports Spain and Portugal

Riots overshadow cup games in Bilbao and Lisbon

Status: 01.03.2024 | Reading time: 2 minutes

Fans stand in the stands with smoke flares at the game between Sporting Lisbon and Benfica Lisbon. Before the game there were riots between the supporters

Quelle: dpa/Gerardo Santos

Football fans in Spain and Portugal are once again making negative headlines. There are fierce street battles around two cup games – and injuries. The police arrest several rioters.

In Spain and Portugal, rival soccer fans have turned on each other and fought street battles with police. Especially in Bilbao in northern Spain, hooligans from the local club Athletic initially attacked opposing fans on Thursday evening in the run-up to the semi-final of the Copa del Rey against Atlético Madrid, as the sports newspapers “Marca” and “AS” reported.

They stormed a restaurant where some fans who had traveled from Madrid were eating. An Atletico supporter was taken to hospital with injuries. Athletic hooligans have caused violence around stadiums in the past.

Later, violent Athletic fans tried to break into the San Mamés stadium. They threw firecrackers, Bengali fire, bottles and barriers at the police, as shown in images from state TV channel RTVE. Security forces had to temporarily retreat into the stadium while a mob outside tried to break down the metal gates, as seen in a video published by local newspaper El Correo. A hooligan was arrested and six police officers were injured, said Ertzaintza, the name of the police in the Basque Country.

Police use batons in Lisbon

The current fifth-placed Athletic won the semi-final surprisingly clearly, but deservedly won 3-0 against Diego Simeone’s team (fourth in the table) and thus qualified for the final in Seville. The opponent will be Mallorca.

Here you will find content from Twitter

In order to display embedded content, your revocable consent to the transmission and processing of personal data is necessary, as the providers of the embedded content require this consent as third party providers [In diesem Zusammenhang können auch Nutzungsprofile (u.a. auf Basis von Cookie-IDs) gebildet und angereichert werden, auch außerhalb des EWR]. By setting the switch to “on”, you agree to this (revocable at any time). This also includes your consent to the transfer of certain personal data to third countries, including the USA, in accordance with Art. 49 (1) (a) GDPR. You can find more information about this. You can revoke your consent at any time using the switch and privacy at the bottom of the page.

There were also riots on Thursday evening before the game in the Portuguese Cup between city rivals Sporting and Benfica Lisbon (2-1). There were clashes between fans of both clubs near the José Alvalade stadium, the state news agency Lusa and the newspaper “Correio da Manha” reported. One person was slightly injured when bottles were thrown. The police used batons, as seen in a video distributed by Correio da Manha.