Early morning September 30 (Vietnam time), Atletico Madrid vs Real Madrid is the highlight match of La Liga 8 2024-2025. The two city rivals always make the derby matches tense and the last match was no exception.
On the pitch, in the 1-1 draw, the two teams exchanged 22 fouls (11 each), 4 yellow cards and 1 red card were shown by the referee. In the stands, the atmosphere was equally hostile, as Atletico fans focused on Thibaur Courtois, the Belgian goalkeeper who once played for Los Rojoblancos.
There were a lot of things thrown into Courtois' penalty area - from food, bottles, lighters to a bag of... feces. Courtois not only had to protect his team's goal but also acted as... a cleaner cleaning the field.
Police and Atletico have identified one of the extremists from the Fondo Sur fan club, despite the group wearing a hood. According to Marca, Atletico also acted quickly, banning the fan for life and removing his membership.
According to El Chiringuito, the situation was more serious because the subject himself somehow brought a knife onto the field. Although he only threw a lighter onto the field, it was “possible” that he was carrying a knife, according to the person in charge of match security.
Although Courtois was not stabbed or anything unfortunate happened, it is clear that the security issue as well as allowing such extreme forces onto the field is a threat to the safety of the away team's players.
According to information from the La Liga Organizing Committee, before and during the Madrid derby, a total of 17 times fans of both teams (Atletico 15 times) shouted slogans or made insults and threats towards the opponent, including a group of people shouting: "Courtois, die".
Before the match, Atletico fans had insulted the sign honoring Courtois, whistling and booing him from the warm-up and throughout the match.
Real Madrid are currently second in La Liga with 18 points, while Atletico are fourth, two points behind.
