The visit of Atlético de Madrid, one of the great matches on the calendar, did not generate the expectation that was presumed. The decrease in spectators on Sunday in Montjuïc was a surprise. The only unpleasant surprise of a less cold night than announced and a notable Barça game that confirmed their football recovery.
The figures are misleading. The 34,568 people who applauded the victory (1-0), very few for the dimensions in which the club moves (moved), only covered 69.9% of the official capacity established by the club when it exposed the details of the exile to the stadium Olympic. But the average attendance is still high, 83.8% of the total capacity; For now, a percentage similar to that recorded at the Camp Nou (84%). The total figures are much smaller.
They can barely accompany Barça 49,472 spectators at the Lluís Companys, which are the number of seats enabled by the entity. A figure that is not entirely real, beyond the fact that there are 55,926 seats screwed into the Olympic stadium. On the day of the classic, a record attendance of 50,112 people was announced, which would contravene the supposed legal limit.
The problem is that it starts from a fragile base. The number of Camp Nou subscribers (around 80,000, a figure never specified by the entity) has dropped to 17,064 members who acquired the pass of Montjuïc, far from the 27,000 seats anticipated by the board, and a ridiculous percentage compared to the capacity of the stadium: if everyone attended, once the confirmation of attendance process was completed on the website, they would only occupy 34.5% of the stadium’s capacity. .
The number of subscribers for the 23-24 campaign drops Barça to 19th place among Spanish football clubs, surpassed even by Second Division teams (Espanyol announced 24,311 seats sold, Zaragoza has 28,882 in La Romareda) and due to the exceptional case of Sports To Coruña that, still in the First Federation, declared 28,020 subscribers.
Prices and weather that freeze
Six days before the game, Subscribers must ensure their attendance, otherwise they cannot attend and will have the same prerogatives as members who do not have a subscription. It is true that members have discounts that vary depending on each match, just as prices vary depending on the rival. Seeing Atlético cost between 85 euros and 219 euros, a price that is more within the reach of tourists who go down in the epilogue of the year. Subscribers, it is known, do not have a fixed seat in each match, but rather it varies depending on, it is assumed, the club’s algorithms.
The weather forecasts announced a cold and winter night, which later did not end up being fulfilled. Not with the drop in temperatures that was expected. The schedule did not agree either, since it was the second time in the same week that the team played at 9 p.m., the sixth of the season. Girona’s visit next Sunday will be the seventh. The enthusiasm of the fans of the co-leader of the League will compensate for the absence of the colchoneros. 43,533 spectators attended against Porto, which was reduced to 34,568 against Atlético. The worst entry of the season. Something unusual when it comes to Atlético.
The slight Barça bump
Barça’s week was looking bad and the fan was not in the mood after watching the defeat against Shakhtar in the Champions League, the bad game against Alavés, who had to come back (2-1) and Vallecas’ draw against Rayo (1-1). The team started in fourth position in the table and faced Porto, Atlético and Girona in a trilogy of unforeseeable consequences if the results did not respond. They are responding, with two victories that have raised the culé spirit. The Catalan derby with Girona marks good prospects.
The team added a exciting victory on Tuesday over Porto which ensured their qualification to the round of 16 and, virtually, as first in the group and produced a great match against Atlético, no less exciting due to the tight score. Xavi appealed to the fans’ appeal without luck, but the whistles against Alavés They were not repeated although Pepê put the Portuguese eleven ahead just as Samu Omorodion scored to make it 0-1 for Alavés. The schedule has not been shown to be a key factor in determining attendance, but rather the sensations that the team emits to engage the fans.
The problem of communication
The exile to Montjuic, abandoning the Camp Nou home for 65 years, was reluctantly assumed by the Barça fans, who predicted a series of difficulties that deterred the vast majority; In fact, more than 63,000 members gave up their season ticket due to the avalanche of inconveniences that were never concealed, starting with the prohibition of traveling with their own vehicle. Leisure activities in the mountains are conspicuous by their absence. Only some clubs have noticed an improvement in their movements by parking closer to or the same as at the Camp Nou.
Even today, fans are still disoriented when it comes to locating themselves in the stadium, looking for their location, which varies in each game despite the club’s million-dollar investment to signpost and improve the experience of attending the stadium. On the day of the classic against Madrid, some stickers were stuck on the seats since they had the number erased, for example.
The club made a mistake when it detailed the conditions of the transfer with a substantial and camouflaged price increaseeither which then had to rectify by halving the rates. Saturday’s calls were ignored in view of the result. “We need the push of the culés, of Barça fans. They come strong, we have to take the three points and the players need the support of the fans,” said Joan Laporta after visiting the squad on Saturday. Xavi also appealed for the help of the culés, a mission to which the players who were interviewed by the media determined by the club.
The Camp Nou-Montjuïc comparison was lost beforehand. From minute one. Only Madrid has filled the stadium, in which more than five seats with zero visibility have been made unusable. In the classic and with the presence of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards in the box representing the Rolling Stones, and at 4:15 p.m., there was a party that Jude Bellingham ruined in added time.
Barça broke the historical attendance record in the 22-23 campaign. 2,084,923 people attended the 25 matches played at the Camp Nou. The average was 83,396 spectators per game, which gave an occupancy rate of 84%: the highest in Europe. In reality it was greater: 5,000 seats were eliminated in December after the partial demolition of the third tier of the Gol Sud. The current average is close (83.8%) but will trend downward. Not just because the Atlético audience points it out.
By the mountain The highest-grossing teams have already passed always, those that attract the most fans: Real and Atlético de Madrid, Betis and Sevilla, and Athletic de Bilbao. Next Sunday, Girona, the co-leader, will attend, and the next, the last of 2023, will be Almería, the bottom.
Real Sociedad, Las Palmas, Valencia, Getafe, Rayo Vallecano, Villarreal, Osasuna, Mallorca and Granada will still have to attend during 2024. Once the Champions League group is completed, there will be the round of 16 qualifiers and those that are surpassed and those of the Copa del Rey.