Gaspart plays down fans' fury at Figo

BARCELONA president Joan Gaspart tried to defend his own unruly supporters after their 0-0 draw with bitter rivals Real Madrid descended into disgrace as former Barcelona playmaker Luis Figo was pelted with missiles on Saturday night.

“The reaction of the supporters is unjustifiable and wrong but they were provoked. Figo came here and provoked us in our house, and outside of the field of play,” said the ever-controversial Gaspart.

The match had to be suspended midway through the second half when Figo had various objects rain down on him, including a whisky bottle, thrown by the Barcelona faithful while he was trying to take a corner.

Referee Luis Medina Cantalejo decided to send both teams to the dressing room in the 69th minute while things calmed down.

Gaspart also took issue with Medina Cantalejo for stopping the match for ten minutes. “I’ve never seen a match stopped in these circumstances and it was clearly a case of the referee being prejudiced against our team,” added the hotel magnate.

Gaspart has been smarting over Real poaching Figo within weeks of him ascending to the presidency of the Catalan club in July 2000.

The Portuguese winger and current FIFA World Player of the Year has been a hate figure at Barcelona following his move to Real for what was then a world record transfer fee of €59.3 million. Placards and posters denoucing Figo, as well as blow-up sex doll with Figo's name and old Barcelona number on it which frequently caught the eye of the Spanish television cameras, were plentiful in the stands of the Nou Camp.

One of the mildest slogans said simply, “Figo Judas.”

The treatment of Figo left Real officials fuming. “This was a disgrace to Spanish football,” commented Real's director general Jorge Valdano.

“They broke the windows of our coach, and the abuse started as soon as we arrived. This has gone beyond the limits of rivalry,” added the Argentine.

Madrid will have to open their Champions League second phase campaign at AC Milan tomorrow night without Brazilian star Ronaldo who has the flu.

Real are already without skipper and central defender Fernando Hierro, who has been out for a fortnight with a twisted ankle while French midfielder Claude Makelele had to go off against Barca with an ankle knock.

France international star Zinedine Zidane, who missed the Barcelona match with back trouble, is also doubtful, meaning Real could turn to Steve McManaman to turn on the magic for the holders.

Italian league leaders AC Milan are sweating on the fitness of central defender Alessandro Nesta for the visit of Madrid. Nesta, who was absent for Saturday's 1-0 win over local rivals Inter, is still struggling to overcome an injury to his left thigh. Paolo Maldini bruised his left foot in the derby but is expected to line up on the left-hand side of Milan’s defence against the Champions League holders.

Real Mallorca squandered the chance to lead the Spanish first division for only the third time in their history when they were held to a 1-1 draw by Villarreal yesterday. Real Sociedad hang onto to their lead in Spain despite only drawing 0-0 at Rayo Vallecano on Saturday.

Mallorca had control of the game for much of the 90 minutes but went behind when Villarreal’s Argentine striker Martin Palermo weaved his way through their defence midway through the first half. Walter Pandiani headed Mallorca's equaliser 11 minutes after the break for his sixth goal of the season but, try as they might with Pandiani and Ariel Ibagaza going close late in the game, the island side couldn't snatch a winner.

Reigning champions Valencia stay in third spot but closed the gap on the two leaders after a comfortable 2-0 win over Valladolid. Mista Ferrer, standing in for the injured Pablo Aimar, proved his worth with two first half goals.

In Serie A, AS Roma’s hopes of hauling themselves back into the title race in Italy were severely dented after the 2001 champions crashed 3-0 at Parma yesterday, their third league defeat of the season.

Sorely missing their inspirational captain Francesco Totti, who is still nursing a knee injury, Roma’s loss means they now trail league leaders AC Milan by a massive nine points ahead of their Champions Leage meeting with Arsenal on Wednesday night.

Emilian Bonazzoli was the architect of Roma’s downfall at the Ennio Tardini stadium, scoring a goal in each half and winning a penalty which Romania international Adrian Mutu gratefully converted.

On Saturday Milan went top of Serie A by beating derby rivals Inter Milan 1-0 at the San Siro, Brazilian winger Serginho scoring the decisive goal in the 13th minute.

The victory saw Milan go ahead on goal difference of second-placed Juventus, held to a 1-1 draw at home to Bologna. Indeed they needed an equaliser five minutes from time by Mark Iuliano to steal a point after Guiseppe Signori's penalty had given the visitors a deserved lead.

Chilean striker Marcelo Salas has been ruled out of Juventus’ Champions League second phase match against Deportivo La Coruna of Spain after suffering an injury to his left thigh.

Also missing from the group is Frenchman David Trezeguet, last season’s leading goalscorer in Italy, who has not recovered fully from an injury to his right knee.