Why Barcelona & Girona’s players did not play the first 20 seconds of their La Liga clash | OneFootball

The respective starting XIs of Barcelona and Girona stood still for the opening 20 seconds of their La Liga meeting on Saturday.

This came as part of a league-wide protest against the decision to sanction the upcoming clash between Barca and Villarreal being played in the USA.

Protests against UEFA’s call to give the go-ahead to a first-ever La Liga fixture being played outside of Spain were kicked into gear on Friday evening.

As much came ahead of the clash between Real Oviedo and Espanyol.

Girona had since also made clear their intention to follow suit, in agreement with 17 rival La Liga clubs (excluding Barcelona and Villarreal).

In turn, Míchel’s players stayed true to their word, refusing to move for the first 20 seconds at Montjuïc this afternoon.

And Hansi Flick’s Barca squad showed full respect for this stance, also standing in place, amid an altogether unusual start to the gameweek in Spain’s top-flight.

Conor Laird – GSFN