The team bus of Portuguese League defending champions and current table-toppers Benfica was under attack on Thursday. Some unruly fans of the club attacked the bus when the team was leaving the Estadio da Luz after the 0-0 draw against lowly placed Tondela.
The fans gathered some distance away from the stadium while the match was going on since they were not permitted to enter the stadium in order to contain the spread of the dreaded coronavirus pandemic.
Benfica match against Tondela was the first match of the team in three months as the Portuguese league has been halted since March due to the coronavirus pandemic. Yet the fans expected Benfica to win the match in order to consolidate their number one position on the league table.
However, they drew the match against the expectation of the fans and bookmakers, bringing the team to 60 points, the same as the second-placed Porto but stayed ahead due to superior goals difference.
Before coronavirus halted football, Benfica has managed to win 19 matches in the league, losing three and drawing two. Their last match before the coronavirus break was against Vitoria FC which ended in a 1 – 1 draw.
While Tondela won only 6 matches and have been on the losing side in 11 matches. Their last game against Boavista also ended in a 1-1 draw. They are currently sitting in the 13th spot on the league table with 26 points in 25 matches.
Obviously, Benfica should have won against Tondela, the fans thought. So, the only way they thought they could remind them that was to wait for the team bus outside the stadium and attacked the bus with stones.
In the process of carrying out such an act, German midfielder Julian Weigl, 24, and Serbian winger Andrija Zivkovic, 23, were injured and had to be taken to the Hospital da Luz in Lisbon to be treated.
“Sport Lisboa and Benfica denounce and lament the criminal stoning the bus of its players was victim to,” the club’s statement read.
“We guarantee total collaboration with authorities to whom we appeal for the greatest effort to be made in identifying the delinquents responsible for these criminal acts.”
