Barcelona, Napoli players hold ‘Stop War’ banner ahead of Europa League match

Barcelona and Napoli players held up a “Stop War” banner ahead of their Europa League tie on Thursday following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Players and coaching staff from both teams came together minutes before kickoff at the Diego Armando Maradona stadium to pose in front of the slogan after a day of protests across the world.

Barca and Napoli are playing for a place in the last 16 of the Europa League, a competition the Spanish side have not been involved in since 2004. The first leg ended 1-1 at Camp Nou on Feb. 17.

Elsewhere in the Europa League on Thursday, Ukraine international Ruslan Malinovskyi unveiled a “No war in Ukraine” T-shirt after scoring for Atalanta against Olympiakos as the Italians progressed to the next round.

The actions follow Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s decision to impose martial law across the country earlier in the day after Russia launched land, sea and air attacks on the country.