the story of the fans of Eintracht Frankfurt

“For weeks we were planning our arrival in Barcelona through internet forums. With the white shirt or the one with red stripes. With or without tickets, but we also got them & rdquor ;, says Albi Fich, who has come with a group of nine friends, of whom only four entered the stadium. “We live the game apart. Two of us were on the side of the stadium and two others, in one of the goals & rdquor ;, he relates. Asked how and where he bought the ticketsFich affirms that they acquired them in the official website of the club.

In this sense, Christian Paghe also assures that he acquired “more than 15 entries on the FC Barcelona website”. “I paid between 90 and 150 euros for each one, in different areas of the stadium & rdquor ;, he explains. And he details the logistics: “Every day we went to the website and bought them, one or at a time or in batches of two or three. We had no problem. We pay, that’s what counts & rdquor ;, he defends himself.

Even more ingenious was the way Paul-Luca Bonke, who has come to Barcelona with his father, obtained the tickets. paul managed circumvent the limitations imposed by the FC Barcelona website when buying tickets from Germany changing the VPN to show that this operation was done from the United States. The next step was to contact a friend of his who lives in that country to be able to pay for the tickets, 160 euros for each one of them, with a credit card located in the United States, since the German companies also have restrictions to carry out the operation. All this information was obtained through fan forums of the German club a couple of days before the match.

Instead, Marcus Linnen explains that he bought three through the portal eBay. “I understand that they were from partners who could not go to the stadium. I only know that they sold me three, separated from each other, but all in the same area & rdquor ;, he recounts. Of course, like many others, he refuses to say the amount he paid for the tickets. “It was worth it, we have beaten the almighty Barça & rdquor ;, he shouts while raising a mug of beer in the boulevards of Barcelona with two families. “Eintrach, beers and Europe Legue. In that order & rdquor ;, he and his other two friends shout.

Cristofor bought two tickets online P1travel for which he paid 200 euros. “I bought them legally. The website says it is ‘partner’ of the FC Barcelona& rdquor ;, he assures.

While they toast, municipal cleaning workers of Barcelona continue cleaning the center of Barcelona. They acknowledge that the Eintrach fans “have left the center and the surroundings of the stadium very dirty, especially from glass bottles and cans & rdquor ;.

Before the game, hundreds of fans of the German team invaded Calle Urgell, blocked traffic between Gran Vía and Diagonal, and went in procession to the stadium. One of those who watched the game from a bar in Les Corts was Armond Frank and his five friends. “We have come exclusively for the game. We will stay more days because we have vacations, but we were clear that the club had a historic game and we could not miss it & rdquor ;, he explains. Furthermore, he says: “In that bar we were more German than Catalan. I admit that I was surprised and even more so when I saw the images of our fans in the stadium after the game. We got it & rdquor ;, he says.

In the hours before the match it was already glimpsed that Thursday was going to be a very different day from what the city is used to when European competitions are held. And not only because of the final result of the qualifying round of the Europe Leagueunfortunately because of the culé fans, but because of the outstanding presence of Eintracht Frankfurt fans who had gathered since early afternoon in the streets around the Camp Nou.

Previously, the supporters of the Teutonic team had collapsed the city center on their way to the stadium, leaving behind a trail of beer cans and various dirt. Catalonian squarenerve center of a large part of the German fans, was totally overwhelmed in a festive atmosphere of songs, alcohol and urine that came to condition traffic affecting the TMB bus service.

The central trunk of Diagonal was completely cut off by the avalanche of thousands of Eintracht fans, most of whom did not have a ticket to watch the game. According to the Guardia Urbana, the column of fans that invaded the Diagonal was made up of 12,000 peoplewhile another parallel one that arrived via Sants from Plaza Espanya he had managed to gather 10,000 German fans.

The Mossos d’Esquadra They were closely monitoring the movement of the Eintracht fans and reviewing the no notable altercationsbeyond some give and take between the German and Barça fans, clashes that did not go further due to the police device arranged to control the event, and the throwing of some objects at the bus that transported the FC Barcelona players to the Camp Nou in which Catalan police officers were forced to launch a blow to make them give up and make way for the bus.

What no one could have imagined is that this numerical superiority demonstrated in the streets, would later move inside the culé stadium, both with the ball rolling on the grass and in the stands, making the Camp Nou was German, to the shame of Laporta. And faith that they succeeded, more than 30,000 German fans took the lead and color in the Camp Nou in a night to remember for Eintracht fans.