Fans injured as car hits crowd before Barça derby

Over a dozen people were injured when a car drove into a crowd of Espanyol supporters before the club's LaLiga match against Barcelona on Thursday.

The supporters were gathered to greet the team bus outside RCDE Stadium when the incident happened just over an hour before kickoff.

Local police confirmed the driver of the car had been detained, although it remains unclear at this stage whether it was a deliberate attack or a case of the driver losing control of the vehicle.

"Multiple people have been injured outside Espanyol's stadium after being hit by a car," the Mossos d'Esquadra, the local police force in Barcelona, confirmed in a brief statement.

"The situation is under control and there is no risk to those already inside the stadium.

"Those injured are being attended to by the necessary medical services and the driver of the vehicle has been detained."

An announcement in the stadium also confirmed the situation was under control, adding that none of the injuries were "serious."

The game went on as planned, with Barcelona beating Espanyol to clinch the LaLiga title in manager Hansi Flick's first year in charge of the Catalan side.