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Referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea explains to stunned Granada players why he blew the whistle
Photo: Fran Santiago / Getty Images
In the Spanish Primera División, the game between Granada FC and Sevilla FC came to a curious end.
In Seville's 2-1 (1-0) away win, referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea accidentally called the party too early.
The players of both teams had to be brought back to the field minutes after the supposed end of the game in order to continue the game.
With a score of 2: 1 for Sevilla, the referees had decided on stoppage time of four minutes.
De Burgos Bengoetxea, however, whistled after just three minutes and was subsequently harassed by angry Granada players, to whom the referee tried to explain his decision.
When the referee noticed his mistake, most of the players had left the pitch and some were already in the process of changing.
Several minutes passed before the players were brought back onto the lawn and the game could continue.
In the final minute that was made up for, there was no longer any relevant scene for the outcome of the game.
Sevilla remains in the title race
The previous game was unspectacular: Ivan Rakitic gave Sevilla FC the lead with a penalty kick (16th minute), Lucas Ocampos increased to 2-0 in the second half after an assist by Papu Gómez (53rd).
It was only shortly before the end of regular time that Roberto Soldado managed to shorten Granada with a hand penalty (90th).
With the win, Sevilla FC have a small chance of being able to intervene in the fight for the Spanish championship title.
With five games to go, Julen Lopetegui's team is fourth in the table, three points behind leaders Atlético Madrid, who lost 2-1 at Athletic Club from Bilbao in the evening.
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