Espanyol’s complaint against Barcelona over Lewandowski will be dismissed – report

Over the past few days, there has been a lot of friction between FC Barcelona and their local rivals RCD Espanyol.

The problems started with the Parakeets taking issue with Robert Lewandowski’s three-match ban being temporarily lifted on the eve of the Catalan derby, allowing Barcelona to field him in the team.

Espanyol released a statement soon after calling the decision from Central Contentious Court of Madrid as ‘unusual’ and ‘unjust’ while also confirming that none of their club officials will be attending the derby at Camp Nou.

The La Liga side took matters up a notch yesterday when they submitted an official complaint to the RFEF claiming that Lewandowski’s inclusion in the side was illegal and challenged the outcome of the game.

Espanyol claimed that even though Lewandowski’s ban was temporarily lifted, he should have been suspended for at least one match for the two yellow cards he had received in the game against Osasuna.

Barcelona did not issue a response on the matter, but should Espanyol’s complaint be upheld by RFEF, the result of the derby will be changed from a 1-1 draw to a 3-0 win in favour of the Parakeets.

However, according to Isaac Fouto of COPE, the RFEF Competitions Committee will dismiss the complaint made by Espanyol over Lewandowski’s presence in the derby.

The Competitions Committee consider that a ruling from a court is above any sports body and will thus quash the complaint made by Barcelona’s neighbours over Lewandowski featuring in the match on Saturday.

As for the Poland international’s availability for the next match against Atletico Madrid, a decision on the same could be made this week. But the holiday on January 6 could delay the resolution, which would allow Barcelona to field Lewandowski against the Rojiblancos too.