Espanyol Accuse Barça Players

Espanyol are set to make a formal complaint against Barcelona's players after their over zealous celebrations during the heated local derby on Saturday evening.

The Blanc i Blau's director general, Pedro Tomás, was incensed that both Thierry Henry and then Lionel Messi were provocative towards the visiting fans after scoring their goals.

"We are making a complained to the Antiviolence Commission about the provocative actions of some of the players," Tomás told TV3.

"I have not seen anything like it in my 30 years in football. It was a sad day, not just for Espanyol or for football, but for everyone in general.

"Some of the actions of a few Barça players, when celebrating the goals, appeared to encourage the problem."

Trouble had erupted midway through the second half when flares were thrown from among the Barça contingent into a family aresa of Espanyol supporters below them.

That provoked an angry response from some sections of the home support and riot police had to react quickly to quell the distubrances while the referee stopped the game for ten minutes.

Once play had resumed, Barça drew level when Henry scored and they then took all three points with a late penalty from Lionel Messi and Espanyol believe the celebrations were too much.

Most media outlets have laid the blame on the Boixos Nois group and Tomás believes that the attack with flares was pre-planned and publicised on the internet.

"It was a pre-meditated attack, published on the net and we will also present that as part of our evidence."

Tickets for the away end at the Estadi Olímpic were on open sale in the days leading up to the game and that is how members of the Boixos Nois, who are banned from Camp Nou, gained access.

"The sale of tickets is open and we cannot do anything about that," Tomás added.