The Derby of Eternal Enemies lived up to its name in sickening fashion on Sunday when first-place Olympiacos visited second-place Panathinaikos. And it did so rather quickly.
With a giant banner that read “WAR ZONE” at one end of the stadium, Panathinaikos supporters threw missiles and invaded the pitch before the match even began.
Olympiacos president Vangelis Marinakis was disgusted by the reception and expressed that after the match. From the AP:
“What we saw today, I had never imagined. I had never foreseen that, the moment the team stepped into the pitch, there would be a pitch invasion. And the objects, what can I say? Nails, rocks, bottles…this felt like the bombardment of Iraq,” Marinakis said after the game.
“What happened was a shame. Unacceptable. The people don’t come to watch a game. I don’t know if it is (the teams’) fault, what can I say…I can’t find words for this,” Panathinaikos coach Yannis Anastassiou said on TV right after the final whistle.
Panathinaikos won 2-1, closing the gap between the two clubs to just three points and producing some insane images along the way.