Sevilla and Alavés draw 0-0 in tribute to Tenerife striker Jesús de Miguel

A minute of silence and a stopped match

Sevilla and Alavés drew 0-0 on Friday, 6 November, in the 12th round of La Liga, a fixture the league turned into a tribute to Jesús de Miguel, the 30-year-old Tenerife striker who died recently. Before kickoff at the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán, the stadium held a minute of silence, and players from both sides walked out in commemorative shirts. ABC Tu Diario en Español reported that the shirts carried De Miguel's name and the number 9 on the back. The referee placed a bouquet on the centre circle, the spot where the collision had taken place, and La Vanguardia described white chrysanthemums laid on the grass.

In the 9th minute the referee Luis Bestard Servera stopped play, and the silence gave way to applause from the crowd and the players. Ruben Vargas missed the match's clearest chance in the 32nd minute, a penalty that Antonio Sivera saved. The same tribute was scheduled for every top-flight and second-division ground that weekend, according to La Vanguardia.

The collision and the death of Jesús de Miguel

De Miguel died after a violent collision with Andorra goalkeeper Jesús Owono during the Tenerife-Andorra match on Monday evening, 2 November. La Vanguardia reported that the goalkeeper's knee struck De Miguel violently in the chest. El Mundo and Il Fatto Quotidiano date the collision to Monday, while ABC Tu Diario en Español gives Tuesday as the day of the death. The reports agree that the player was 30 years old and that his death came about a week before the Sevilla-Alavés fixture.

Owono's withdrawal from the national team

Ana Maye, general coordinator of Equatorial Guinea's senior men's national team and a close confidante of Owono since he was 14, spoke to Mundo Deportivo. She said the goalkeeper has not left his home since Tuesday, 3 November, and is considering quitting football. According to Il Fatto Quotidiano, Owono has declined his call-up to the Equatorial Guinea squad, asked both the national federation and his Andorra technical staff for permission to stay with his club, and is receiving psychological support.

Maye described the goalkeeper's state of mind in one interview.

“He is very affected, above all by the one-and-a-half-year-old boy that Jesús de Miguel had, and by his widow.”

Maye also said that Owono's younger brother, who plays football in the Basque Country, has been called a killer and insulted by teammates and some parents, and that his sister, a student at the University of Valencia, is suffering too. She asked that the family's privacy be respected.

Police inquiry and the emergency response

Spanish police are still reconstructing what happened, Il Fatto Quotidiano reported. The goalkeeper could theoretically face a charge of involuntary manslaughter, but the inquiry is concentrating mainly on what failed in the emergency response.

Spain's coach and the decision to play

Spain's coach Luis de la Fuente offered his squad for the national team's last two matches of 2026 in a video in which he lamented the railway accident at Urda and De Miguel's death. At a press conference he backed the decision to keep the round's fixtures on, despite a request from the players' union AFE to suspend them. He said he would prefer to be remembered on a pitch and that the tribute belonged on the field.