Five minutes of injury time were added on to the first half
There is a lot to like about La Liga. The league features some of the world’s best players and coaches and the quality of football is arguably higher than any other league in the world. However, it is not without its faults, and poor organisation is certainly one of them.
Whether it’s the league agreeing to send players to the United States for a league match without their permission or a team having to close its stadium due to safety concerns, there is always something going wrong.
This afternoon, as Deportivo Alaves trailed 1-0 to Espanyol, five minutes of injury time were added on, and just 30 seconds before the half was due to end, the sprinklers were activated and proceeded to soak the players on the pitch.
The fourth official and the referee evidently didn’t consider that the sprinkler system was on a timer that anticipated the first half being over by that time.
The players and officials waited for the sprinklers to finish their watering duties before concluding the half.
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls. Here is the #LaLiga equivalent of the floodlights going off mid-match. The sprinklers coming on mid-game. Where was the big cheer that we'd hear in a British stadium though? #PureFootball pic.twitter.com/GVZGnSPfyp
— ELEVEN Football (@ElevenSportsFB) September 2, 2018
Alaves went on to turn the game on its head and take a 2-1 lead in the second half thanks to goals from Borja Baston and Ruben Sobrino.