Without Germans in the stands, 57,495 people said goodbye to the Easter holidays at the Camp Nou, although without animation in the north goal.
The animation stands were empty. “It was a shame that they didn’t come because we needed them”, lamented Xavi after the defeat.
No one crossed last night river main to sit in the Camp Nou. And, the truth is, very few were the ones who gathered before the match in front of gate 15 to protest and show tremendous anger at the German invasion last week. Lots of noise, especially when TV3 connected their cameras, and almost more journalists than protesters. Joan Laporta will give explanations on Tuesday for the mess of Europa League tickets. But he will do it without the concern of having seen thousands of Barcelona fans asking for his resignation for what happened on Thursday against Eintracht Frankfurt.
The Camp Nou recovered its essence, that of all life, that of the field that presents a correct entrance (57,495 viewers) but it doesn’t get crowded because Mondays are for sunbathing, if it’s good as it was, to say goodbye to the Easter festivities, but not to keep an eye on the clock and that at 9 at night there is a Barça match with the children grumpy because the next day they have to get up early to go back to school after the holidays.
In fact, if there was criticism, if there was debate, everything ended, as tradition dictates, when the ball began to roll on the Camp Nou pitch. Because this Monday there were rival fans, those who wore yellow instead of white, but far from the exaggerated figure, of those more than 25,000 German fans who showed faith in their team by traveling to Barcelona, when other teams never move in those figures and less in the quarterfinals of the second continental competition. This Monday, there was only 250 Cadiz followersthose who sang that “yellow face is painted” to enter the Camp Nou and try to enjoy with a team that does not give up to avoid relegation.
animation strike
And if there was no more than 57,495 viewers It was due to the strike called by the animation stands that decided not to go to the usual area of the north goal of the Camp Nou in protest at what happened on Thursday in the German invasion. There were contacts from the board to see if the young animators changed their minds. But no, the emptiness of that area of the stadium recalled the images of the Camp Nou when it was played behind closed doors as a result of the pandemic.
And this Tuesday, President Laporta will expose at 12 in the morning (Esport3 and Canal Barça) the conclusions of the rapid open investigation to clarify what had happened and how the Eintracht fans had obtained so many tickets. As the newspaper ‘Sport’ advanced this Monday, the directive has estimated that at minus 10,000 from those locations reached the hands of German fans through partners who placed them in the usual online ticket sales channels.
It remains to be seen how they obtained the rest of the locations and it also remains to be confirmed what seems to be the first initiative of the Barça board for future international events and what happens because the tickets sold are nominative.
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Meanwhile, the member who went to the Camp Nou saw how Barça was defeated with Xavi, who lamented the absence of the animation stands. “It’s a shame they haven’t come because we need them,” said the coach, who admitted that, despite the defeat, “the Champions League is still intact.” Therefore, “we must change the negative dynamic. There is no other.”
“Keep Believing”
It remains to mark the occasions that, as the Barça coach added, did not enter against Cádiz. “They have created a slow match And they’ve been aggressive on defense. Our chances have not entered. And that there have been many. We have to keep believing because on Thursday we have another war and we have to win it.”