Luis Suárez has been banned for two games following his alleged involvement in a tunnel fight after Barcelona’s 4-1 win over crosstown rival Espanyol. Barça will immediately look to appeal the ban, because check this – even Espanyol players are privately admitting that Luisito was not the culprit:
Damn. If the sanction holds up, Suárez will miss the return leg (which will undoubtedly be the third consecutive controversial match played between the rivals in recent weeks) and the hypothetical first leg of the quarterfinals. A press release on the club’s official website states that “Barcelona is expected to argue that the player, as he later stated, did not use the allegedly offensive words that were attributed to him in the referee’s official notes following the match.”
Espanyol’s Pape Diop and Hernán Pérez – in striking contrast – both received one-match bans (to the great dismay of fútbol fans across the globe):
The hostile Copa del Rey matchup followed a recent goalless draw between the two sides that led to an official denouncement of racist chants directed towards Neymar. It’s just another case of craziness in the corrupt world of Spanish fútbol.