Barcelona face fresh calls for punishment for playing Robert Lewandowski
Espanyol have lodged an official complaint to the Spanish FA against Barcelona starting Robert Lewandowski in their La Liga clash on New Year’s Eve.
The 34-year-old striker was slapped with a three-match suspension following his red card in Barca's 2-1 win away to Osasuna on November 8. Lewandowski was sent off for just the second time in his prestigious career, having picked up two yellow cards in the first half of the hotly-contested La Liga clash - during which teammate Gerard Pique also saw red, despite not even playing.
That red card would have led to a one-match suspension, but Lewandowski was initially handed a three-match ban in total due to a gesture he made while walking off the pitch. The Poland captain had responded to being sent off by touching his nose and pointing towards the match referee, Jesus Gil Manzano, a gesture which was deemed arrogant and disrespectful.
The first match of that ban was supposed to be Barca’s Catalan derby clash against Espanyol on New Year’s Eve – their first match since Lewandowski’s dismissal. However, having failed with a series of appeals during the World Cup break, they were informed by a Madrid court on Friday that the striker’s ban had been temporarily lifted, pending a final decision.
Lewandowski’s presence did not make a significant difference to Xavi Hernandez’s side, who were surprisingly held to a 1-1 draw by Espanyol as Marcos Alonso’s early goal was cancelled out by a second half penalty from Joselu.
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However, Espanyol have now clarified that they do not believe the lifting of Lewandowski’s suspension applied to this match – as the striker’s initial one-game ban for a second yellow card was unrelated to Barcelona’s appeals over the additional suspension after the sending off.
Lewandowski was frustrated in front of goal vs Espanyol on New Year's Eve (Alex Caparros/Getty Images)Have Your Say! Can Xavi lead Barcelona to glory in La Liga? Tell us what you think here.
The Catalan club state that they had informed both the Spanish FA and referee Mateu Lahoz ahead of Saturday’s match that Lewandowski should not have been included in Barca’s line-up, and they have now lodged an appeal against his participation in the match. If their complaint is upheld, Barcelona risk losing the one point they took from the match – which would see Real Madrid leapfrog them at the top of La Liga.
An Espanyol statement on Monday read: "Before the start of the match, the club notified in good faith both the referee of the match, Mr. Mateu Lahoz, and the Spanish FA itself about the presence in the rival team of footballer Robert Lewandowski, who had to serve a sanction after his expulsion for two yellow in the previous day of the national championship."
The statement continued: "RCD Espanyol, as announced on the eve of the match , will use all the resources at its disposal to defend its interests and that of our fans, aware that this flagrant injustice puts the essence of our competition at risk and that the aforementioned injustice was sustained with a hasty resolution and with evident legal deficiencies."
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