Things sometimes get ugly on the football pitch in the heat of the moment. Fights are part and parcel of the high-adrenaline game and sometimes matters are helped by a bad challenge, racist chants or an ongoing rivalry. Of late, a Copa Libertadores match between Palmeiras and Penarol in Montevideo turned into a free-for-all affair.
Brazilian side Palmeiras produced a brilliant comeback win after being down 2-0 at the half time. Mauricio Affonso and Junior Arias gave Penarol the lead in the first half, but two goals from Willian and a goal from Yerry Mina sealed the match for the Brazilian champions.
Palmeiras goalkeeper Fernando Prass and midfielder Felipe Melo were attacked by Penarol players after the referee blew the full time whistle. Melo, who has played for Inter Milan, Galatasaray and Juventus, accused some Penarol players of racially abusing him in Sao Paulo match and had warned of consequences if the Penarol players resort to slurs.
And the Brazilian did escatly that. Melo punched a Penarol player but had to run for his life after the opposite team went after him. A Penarol player uprooted the corner flag to attack him. The violence spilled over to the crowd as fans of both teams were seen attacking each other.
Check out the whole incident including Felipe Melo's punch in this video.
The situation got worse for the Palmeiras players as they could not enter the dressing rooms with the gates closed for security reasons. Luckily, the Brazilian team had travelled with own security guards who were able to open the gate for the players to leave the field.
Palmeiras president Mauricio Galiotte told Lance! Newspaper: "If Palmeiras had not brought 20 guards, we would have seen a tragedy here today. The gates were shut. I spoke to the Penarol president and to the CONMEBOL executives, and they said the gates were closed for security reasons. The players were going to die in there, in the battlefield! We hope that CONMEBOL will be more rigorous.
"We hope CONMEBOL [South American Football Confederation] will take action. Palmeiras came to play football, we played and we won the game."
