Former Chelsea striker Alvaro Morata suffered a freak injury as a result of a collision initiated by a fan invading the pitch after Spain’s Euro 2024 semi-final victory over France.
After the match (which Spain won 2-1) a supporter ran onto the pitch to try and grab a selfie as the Spanish players celebrated. However, as security rushed to the scene to detain the fan, a member of staff slipped and clattered into Morata’s legs.
The Spain forward was seen clutching his right knee afterwards, clearly in some distress. BBC pundits Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer, Rio Ferdinand and Micah Richards assessed the incident in the studio.
Morata then grimaced as he was helped to his feet, and looked in pain as the rest of the Spain squad posed for a celebratory photo on the pitch. Lineker continued: “This is the aftermath… not sure he looks too bad, I think hopefully it’s not too bad, there’s no physios around him, but he’s still struggling.”
Ferdinand then said: “Can you imagine if he doesn’t get to play in the final?”
Morata then limped through a guard of honour from Spanish staff members and looked unhappy while he spoke to his compatriots, with Lineker adding: “He’s limping quite heavily and he looks upset. God… dear, I mean imagine that, just before a final, if something like that happened, horrendously bad luck.”
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Euro 2024 has been marred by supporters gaining access to the pitch during fixtures for selfies. Portugal’s group stage clash with Turkey was stopped on several occasions as fans attempted to grab a picture with Cristiano Ronaldo.
Before the Morata incident, the match was stopped midway through the second half as a fan tried to take a picture with Kylian Mbappe. If the former Chelsea man were to miss Sunday’s final, UEFA is likely to face several questions about their handling of pitch invasions this summer.
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