Barcelona (dpa) – Supporters of FC Barcelona protested against the club’s management after the great anger at tens of thousands of Frankfurt fans in the Camp Nou in the 2: 3 defeat in the Europa League.
Before the league game against FC Cádiz, they called for the resignation of club president Joan Laporta on the esplanade in front of the stadium. “Laporta’s resignation” and “Barça, that’s us” they sang over and over again. The fan association “Nostra Ensenya” had called for the protest. The media estimated the number of participants at 100 to 200. Another ultra group, “Grada d’Animacio”, had even called for a boycott of the encounter.
On Instagram, “Nostra Ensenya” described the large number of guest fans in the game in which Eintracht threw Barça out of the competition as a humiliation. The association accuses club boss Joan Laporta of allowing this for financial reasons and of having “endangered” the “physical integrity” of the home fans. Meanwhile, Laporta announced a press conference for April 19 (12:00 p.m.) at which he would like to give a clarifying statement on the events.
Coach Xavi had also criticized the unusually strong presence of the guest fans. This played a role in the defeat, said the former club professional. “The players weren’t feeling well, which doesn’t mean we weren’t good. But it affected us negatively.”
Laporta had already announced that it would only sell personalized tickets for international games in the future. There were more than 30,000 Eintracht fans in the Catalan stadium, although FC Barcelona said it had only sold 5,000 tickets to Germany.