Barcelona head coach Xavi says "life is above football" after his side's LaLiga clash with Cadiz was temporarily suspended due to a supporter suffering a cardiac arrest.
The visitors were two goals up with nine minutes to go at Estadio Nuevo Mirandilla when play was halted and the players were taken off the field due to the medical emergency.
Goalkeeper Jeremias Ledesma was seen passing a defibrillator into the stands prior to the concerned players making their way down the tunnel.
Cadiz released a statement later on Saturday confirming the fan in question had been stabilised and taken to the nearby Puerta del Mar Hospital.
A camera operator also fainted in a separate incident and was quickly treated by the stadium's medical staff.
Once play resumed after a 40-minute delay, Barca added to goals from Frenkie de Jong and Robert Lewandowski through Ansu Fati and Ousmane Dembele.
While ultimately pleased to see his side maintain their positive start to the campaign, Xavi was quick to put the result into some perspective.
"It was an eventful situation," he told Movistar. "Some said a supporter had fallen from the stands, others that it was a heart attack.
"If there had been a misfortune of any sort, we would have stopped the game. We are talking about a human life and that is above football.
"Luckily no misfortune has happened and we have been able to play football.
"In the end it was a matter of humanity, with human qualities coming out. Between all of us, we have tried to add and we hope it will turn out well for the person involved."
Barca's victory was their first against Cadiz in five attempts, having drawn two and lost two of their past four encounters in a run stretching back to April 2006.
The Catalans have now won four and drawn one of their first five LaLiga matches in what is Xavi's first full campaign in charge, conceding just once in the process.
Across the past 36 years, only in the 2014-15 season have Barca conceded fewer goals at this stage of a league season.
Reflecting on a fifth win in a row in all competitions for his side, Xavi said: "It's an important win at a difficult ground. We hadn't won here for two seasons.
"We created chances and we dominated. The three points were very important to stay at the top of the table.
"Sometimes we need to understand the last pass better, but I'm happy despite having not played an excellent game."
With a Champions League showdown against Bayern Munich to come on Tuesday, Fati, Lewandowski and Dembele were named among the substitutes versus Cadiz.
Asked if that upcoming match impacted his selection decision, Xavi said: "Even if we didn't have Bayern next week, we'd have played with the same eleven.
"We have a very large squad and those who participated today played very well. This will be a regular dynamic this season when we play every three days."
Rangnick confirms Bayern Munich contact
Ralf Rangnick has confirmed Bayern Munich have been in contact over their soon-to-be vacant coaching position.
Bayern are on the lookout for a new coach, with Thomas Tuchel set to depart at the end of the season.
The Bundesliga giants wanted to appoint Xabi Alonso, but the 42-year-old snubbed their advances, and those of Liverpool, to stay at Bayer Leverkusen.
Bayern's search has now seemingly led them to Rangnick, the former Manchester United interim boss who is now coach of Austria's national team.
Rangnick, though, is paying full attention to Austria's upcoming Euro 2024 campaign.
"There has been contact from the side of Bayern Munich and I have informed the Austrian Football Association," Rangnick said in an interview with 90 Minuten.
"We have a very trusting relationship. My focus is on the Austrian national team. We are focusing completely on the European championships.
"I feel very well here. At the moment there is no reason to intensively deal with this."
Rangnick has plenty of Bundesliga experience, having previously coached Stuttgart, Schalke, Hoffenheim and RB Leipzig.
While Bayern's hopes of securing a 12th Bundesliga title have long since been over, they remain in with a shout of salvaging their season, with a Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid on the horizon.
According to Opta's predictive model, Bayern only have a 37 per cent chance of overcoming Los Blancos, however.
Austria, meanwhile, have been drawn into a Euro 2024 group that also includes Poland, the Netherlands and tournament favourites France.
Rangnick's team will face Les Bleus on June 17, before taking on Poland four days later, and rounding off their group campaign against the Dutch on June 25.
Haaland out of Brighton clash, confirms Man City boss Guardiola
Manchester City will be without Erling Haaland when they take on Brighton, Pep Guardiola has confirmed.
Haaland missed Saturday's FA Cup semi-final victory over Chelsea with a muscular injury he sustained against Real Madrid last week.
And the issue will also see the striker, who has scored 20 Premier League goals this season, miss out against the Seagulls on Thursday.
"Erling is not ready for tomorrow," said Guardiola, who added that City will be able to call on Phil Foden and John Stones.
"It's not a big issue but he's not available."
Haaland has scored, on average, every 109 minutes in the league this season.
However, the Norwegian has actually underperformed his expected goals (xG) of 23.7.
He has also chipped in with five assists, giving him an overall goal contributions tally of 25. Haaland has created 28 goalscoring chances for team-mates across the campaign.
After Arsenal's 5-0 thrashing of Chelsea on Tuesday, reigning Premier League champions Manchester City sit four points off the summit in third place, albeit with two games in hand.
Second-place Liverpool will aim to move level on points with the Gunners by beating Merseyside rivals Everton on Wednesday.
Liverpool line up Feyenoord coach Slot as Klopp replacement
Arne Slot appears to be at the front of the queue to replace Jurgen Klopp as Liverpool manager.
Klopp confirmed in January that he would be leaving the Reds at the end of the season.
Xabi Alonso, who has led Bayer Leverkusen to their first Bundesliga title, was swiftly established as a leading candidate to take the helm at Anfield, where he starred as a player for the Reds between 2004 and 2009.
The 42-year-old, however, is staying put in Germany, and Liverpool's search for Klopp's successor has taken them to Feyenoord's door.
Slot has been previously linked to jobs in the Premier League. Leeds United wanted to appoint him last season before their relegation to the Championship, while he was targeted by Tottenham before they appointed Ange Postecoglou.
The Dutchman intimated when linked with Spurs: "A normal next step would be to go abroad and I've always said that the best league in the world is the Premier League."
Ideally, Liverpool will be aiming for a coach who can come close to replicating Klopp's style of play, and in particular has a flair for working with and developing young players.
Slot has enjoyed fantastic success in Rotterdam. He became Feyenoord head coach in December 2022, after leaving AZ, and went on to win the Eredivisie title in 2022-23, having reached the Europa League final in the previous season.
The 45-year-old has a 64.4 per cent win record from 146 games in charge, winning 94, drawing 29 and losing just 23.
His Feyenoord team have scored 329 goals, an average of 2.2 per match, conceding 147 in return. Slot's points per game is a hugely impressive 2.13.
Feyenoord are, though, set to relinquish their Eredivisie crown, as they trail leaders PSV by nine points. They have, however, won the KNVB Cup this term.
As there is no break clause in the Dutchman's contract, it has been reported that a compensation fee in the region of €10million (£8.5m) could prise him away from Feyenoord.
Sporting CP boss Ruben Amorim is another coach who has been heavily linked with the Liverpool job, albeit he is reportedly in talks with West Ham.
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