Goalkeeper Jesús Owono ‘deeply affected’ by De Miguel’s death, teammate says

‘He ‌would never intentionally hurt anyone,’ Spatz says

Barça’s Raphinha found it ‘difficult’ to play after tragedy

The FC Andorra centre-back Lautaro Spatz has defended his teammate Jesús Owono after the goalkeeper’s collision with Jesús de Miguel on Monday, which preceded the ⁠Tenerife player’s death the ⁠next ​day.

Owono deactivated his Instagram account on Tuesday after receiving abuse online, with some users commenting “murderer” ⁠on his posts. Andorra said they were offering psychological support to anyone at the club ⁠who needed it after De Miguel’s death.

Spatz wrote on social media: “I also ‌want to say a few words about my teammate, goalkeeper ‌and friend, who is deeply affected by what has happened. Those of us who know him know the kind of person he is, how much he is suffering at this moment, and that he ‌would never intentionally hurt anyone.

“In football, unfortunate incidents can happen, but no one could imagine that ​one of them might end with such tragic consequences,” continued Spatz, who also sent condolences to De Miguel’s family and Tenerife.

Owono was sent off for the challenge, having raced from his goal and struck the 30-year-old De Miguel at force, with the Tenerife player subsequently having a cardiac arrest.

The Equatoguinean Football Federation expressed support for Owono, saying the 25-year-old was going through ​a situation ​of profound sorrow and ​grief. Owono has made 47 appearances for Equatorial ​Guinea.

The Can Vidalet goalkeeper ‌Michel Owono ​said on ​social media that he was receiving racist abuse, with people confusing him with the Andorra player.

Spanish national police have opened a routine investigation into De Miguel’s death, although the Santa Cruz de Tenerife chief prosecutor, José Luis Sénchez-Jáuregui, told the Spanish news agency EFE that criminal proceedings were “very unlikely”.

The Barcelona forward Raphinha said he found it difficult to play in against Aston Villa in the Champions League on Tuesday after the death of De Miguel. Domestic Spanish games were called off but Champions League matches went ahead. A minute’s silence was held before Barcelona beat Villa 3-0, with Raphinha scoring twice.

Speaking to CBS Sports after, the Brazilian said: “I want to send a lot of strength to the family of Jesús. Today I’m not going to talk about football. For me, the truth is it was quite difficult [to play]. After seeing the news, of course I didn’t have good feelings. He’s a fellow player and it could have happened to anyone, it could have happened to me. He was the same age as me, I don’t know if that’s why it affected me more. It’s been a difficult day. Personally, it touched me a lot.”