Ex-Arsenal star subject to vile chants during Real Madrid clash as referee stops match

Real Madrid’s La Liga clash with Getafe was briefly stopped on Wednesday after former Arsenal star Dani Ceballos was on the receiving end of some vile chants after he replaced Arda Guler

Former Arsenal midfielder Dani Ceballos was subjected to vile chants after coming off the bench during Real Madrid’s 1-0 win over Getafe on Wednesday, with the referee briefly pausing the game as a result. Ceballos replaced Arda Guler, who scored the only goal of the game, in the 78th minute and the 28-year-old was greeted with chants of “Ceballos, die” from the Getafe fans, according to reports from Spain.

The referee stopped the match due to the chants and spoke to both Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti and Getafe manager Jose Bordalas about the incident. An announcement was then made over the PA system calling for the chants to stop and they did, with the game resuming without further incident.

Getafe striker Borja Mayoral, who was previously team-mates with Ceballos at Madrid, condemned the chants in a post-match interview with DAZN. “I think they are not nice for any player,” Mayoral said.

“We have to eliminate that from football and sports. Hopefully it doesn’t happen again.”

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Ceballos is not the only Madrid player who has been subjected to chants of “die” this season, with defender Raul Asencio targeted by Real Sociedad fans during their Copa del Rey clash back in February.

Madrid won the game 1-0, but Ancelotti substituted Asencio at half-time as he felt the 21-year-old has been “affected” by the chants. Speaking after the match, Ancelotti explained: “Vinicius spoke to the referee, the referee stopped the game, he applied the protocol, that was what had to happen.

“I took him off because of two things, he was affected, and he had a yellow card, so I preferred to take him off. I think nobody likes that a stadium chants for you to die, I think he was affected in that sense. He wasn’t exactly happy, I preferred to take him off in case how he was feeling could affect the game.”

Sociedad captain Mikel Oyarzabal added: “The insults should be condemned, we don’t like them… there are other ways to condemn the actions that others may have committed. We don’t think this is the right way.”

Madrid’s win over Getafe leaves them four points behind rivals Barcelona in the La Liga title race. However, both David Alaba and Eduardo Camavinga picked up injuries during the game and Ancelotti has admitted they are unlikely to be back in time for the Copa del Rey final on Saturday.

“We’ll have to see tomorrow,” Ancelotti said when asked if Camavinga could feature in the final against Barcelona. “He and Alaba both had muscular discomfort. Recovery for Saturday will be difficult.

“It’s a final. Maybe there’s a favourite, but in a final, anything can happen.”

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