Spanish club Espanyol have filed a complaint against Barcelona, saying they “improperly drafted” Polish striker Robert Lewandowski in Saturday’s derby at the Camp Nou.
Before the World Cup break, Lewandowski was handed a three match suspension after initially being sent off against Osasuna for receiving two yellow cards within 30 minutes of the match and later for making inappropriate gestures to the referees. This gesture earned the Polish star a suspension for two additional games.
However, Barcelona appealed the decision 24 hours before this derby, after which he was given a special extension to participate in the match.
A statement released by Espanyol read: “RCD Espanyol has filed a complaint with the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) to challenge the match against FC Barcelona, which corresponds to the 15th LaLiga, for mismatching.”
“Before the start of the match, the club advised in good faith both the referee of the match, Mr. Mateu Lahoz, and the RFEF itself, of the presence in the rival eleven of footballer Robert Lewandowski, who was serving a penalty after he was sent off for double yellow on the previous day of the national championship,” the statement added.
Further, the statement said: “RCD Espanyol, as announced on the eve of the game, will use all available resources to defend its interests and those of our fans, aware that this flagrant injustice threatens the very essence of our competition and that this injustice is based on a hasty solution and with obvious legal flaws.”
The match ended in a 1–1 draw with Marcos Alonso opening the scoring for Barcelona and Espanyol equalizing in the second half with a Joselu penalty in the 73rd minute.