Mapi León Remembered Míchel with Valderrama in the Last Espanyol-Barça Derby of the Women's League.
The Barça defender had her ups and downs with Espanyol player Daniela Caracas. In the middle of a discussion on the field, she touched her private parts.
Mapi León Remembered Míchel's Touching of Valderrama
The scene was reminiscent of the one starring Real Madrid player Míchel on Colombian Valderrama, then a Valladolid player. During the defense of a corner, Míchel grabbed his opponent's genitals without the referee noticing.
Fiebre Maldini (20/11/2017): Cuando Míchel y Valderrama se encontraron en el Bernabéu
The Espanyol-Barça match was very tense after the 7-1 achieved by the blaugranas in the first round. Espanyol offered more resistance than expected, and the match wasn't solved until the final minutes with a 0-2 score.
There were altercations in the stands and clashes between the players on the field. In one of them, the international blaugrana player Mapi León got into a scuffle with Daniela Caracas and touched her genitals in the middle of the struggle.
RCD Espanyol has denounced the incident in a public statement criticizing the behavior of the Barcelona player. "We consider (her gesture) unacceptable and it shouldn't go unnoticed."
Espanyol Will Take Legal Action
The white-and-blue club is even willing to take legal measures in defense of their player's dignity.
This is how Espanyol explains it: "In a play during the match, FC Barcelona player María Pilar León, in the middle of a struggle with our footballer, Daniela Caracas, made a gesture that violates our player's privacy.
Although Caracas, at the moment, couldn't react due to the impact the situation caused her; later, upon assimilating what happened, she became aware of the seriousness of the gesture. But she chose not to react angrily to avoid a disciplinary sanction and harm the team."
It adds: "To what happened on the field is added the unfortunate reaction on social media, where our player has been subjected to insults by hundreds of profiles.
We are concerned that, instead of focusing on the act itself, part of the media attention has shifted to other issues unrelated to the seriousness of the action."