La Liga is in mourning.
While Valencia hosted Cadiz this Friday as part of the 16th day of the Spanish championship, a supporter suffered a cardiac arrest in the Mestalla stadium during the warm-up.
The man received emergency treatment from the Red Cross in the stands, then was taken care of by the emergency services, who transported him to hospital.
According to the Spanish newspaper Marca, it was on arriving at the health establishment that the supporter died.
With a few minutes delay, the match still went ahead, but the two clubs did not fail to pay tribute to the supporter after the final whistle.
Lament profundamente the sad noticia del fallecimiento del seguidor valencianista que ha sido atendido de urgency esta noche en Mestalla antes del inicio del partido.
Mucha fuerza y un enorme abrazo para sus familiares y amigos.
DEP 🖤🦇 pic.twitter.com/ZBsmjwWHqp
— Valencia CF (@valenciacf) January 6, 2023
"Before talking about the game, I'm so sorry for the fan who died today.
We are all really sorry,” said Gennaro Gattuso, Valencia coach, at a press conference.
On its Twitter account, the Cadiz club sent "its condolences to the family and friends of the deceased Valencia fan".
Condolences also shared by the official La Liga account.
Another incident at the start of the season
During the 5th day of the championship, another meeting of Cadiz was also marked by a medical incident in the stands.
While the team faced FC Barcelona, the match was interrupted about fifty minutes in the second half due to the heart attack of a supporter.
Cadiz goalkeeper Jeremias Ledesma then ran to bring a defibrillator and try to rescue the victim.
The Blaugrana defender Ronald Araujo had meanwhile started to pray on the lawn.
The supporter, transported to the hospital, had finally regained a stable condition.
This Friday, Cadiz finally won in Valencia thanks to a goal from Ruben Alcaraz (0-1), and took a three-point lead over the red zone.
Edinson Cavani and Valencia are still losing points in the race for Europe, and sit six points behind sixth-placed Betis Sevilla.