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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Malik Ouzia

Fiorentina captain Cristiano Biraghi speaks out after being left bloodied by West Ham fan missiles

Fiorentina captain Cristiano Biraghi said he “hopes someone deals with” the West Ham fans who left him bloodied after pelting him with missiles in Prague last night.

In ugly scenes in the first half of the Europa Conference League final, Biraghi was cut on the back of his head after being struck by an object thrown from the West Ham section of the Fortuna Arena.

Supporters threw dozens of plastic pint cups and a vape at Biraghi and the match had to be halted temporarily as medics attended to a gash on his head.

West Ham are set to be charged by UEFA over what BT Sport pundit Joe Cole described as “moronic behaviour”.

Biraghi said: “I don’t feel that I need to say anything. I am not judging them, but I hope someone does their job and deals with them.”

Biraghi said Fiorentina were left “dead inside” after Jarrod Bowen scored a dramatic later winner to give West Ham a 2-1 win.

“It hurts a lot,” he said. “Finding the words to describe the horrible sensation we have within us right now is very difficult.

“We are dead inside, especially because we are the protagonists on the field, but we carry with us an entire city that over the last two or three weeks has shown how important Fiorentina is for them. We played for them too and the greatest sadness is returning empty-handed.

“What hurts even more is that West Ham weren’t irresistible.”

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