Chapecoense hero Alan Ruschel returns to the pitch to face Barcelona on emotional night at Camp Nou

Sport360 staff 09:57 08/08/2017
The two teams embrace before kick-off at Camp Nou.

Alan Ruschel played his first match since the plane crash which killed 19 of his team-mates as Chapecoense were beaten 5-0 by Barcelona in a friendly at the Nou Camp.

The Brazilian club were invited to play the match in the wake of the tragedy last November, when the plane carrying their team to the Copa Sudamericana final crashed in Colombia.

Ruschel played in the first 35 minutes of the match before leaving the pitch to a standing ovation from supporters and both sets of players.

Two other survivors of the crash which killed a total of 71 people, Jakson Follmann and Neto, also took to the pitch before kick-off as guests of the Catalan club.

Barcelona named a strong line-up for the occasion in what was their first match since the departure of Neymar, with Gerard Deulofeu taking his place up front.

The former Everton man took just six minutes to make an impression as he finished off a pass from Ivan Rakitic.

Sergio Busquets curled in a long-range effort five minutes later to increase Barcelona’s lead and Deulofeu set up Lionel Messi to tap in the third on the half-hour.

Luis Suarez and Denis Suarez added goals in the second half and Paco Alcacer had a late penalty saved on a night in which the result was rendered insignificant.

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