Large sections of the home crowd in attendance at Athletic Club’s La Liga showdown with Barcelona on Sunday evening made use of the opportunity to poke fun at the headline-grabbing Catalan giants.
Xavi Hernandez’s troops, of course, have found themselves front and centre in the news for all the wrong reasons across the week to date.
This comes on the back of the bombshell revelation that the Blaugrana had been charged with corruption, for payments made to former referee José María Enríquez Negreira.
Taking to the pitch for the first time since such charges had been made public knowledge, it therefore came as little surprise when Barca were targeted, and in altogether ruthless fashion.
First, chants of ‘A Segunda’ boomed around San Mames, as Athletic’s Club’s supporters highlighted the looming threat of relegation for their opponents.
Athletic Club fans chanting “A Segunda” to Barca…Basically taunting them about the corruption case and any potential threat of relegation.
— Phil Kitromilides (@PhilKitro) March 12, 2023
And this was followed in due course by fake ‘Mafia’-themed bank notes raining down onto the pitch, in further reference to what has been widely decided upon as cheating on Barcelona’s part across the rest of Spain’s top-flight.
Athletic Club Bilbao fans threw these “Mafia$” notes onto the pitch during their match vs Barcelona.
The protest came days after the Spanish Prosecutor officially charged Barcelona for “continued sporting corruption” in relation to payments to former referee chief Negreira. pic.twitter.com/uH05qv1jpP
— Colin Millar (@Millar_Colin) March 12, 2023
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