The players wore white hugs as the crowd applauded them; his companions in azulgrana attire, meanwhile, left bowed. The snapshot appears to have been taken at the Waldstadion in Frankfurt. But not. The image of Camp Nou is surprising. Not only because of Eintracht’s 3-2 win that propelled the Teutonic team to the semifinals of the Europa League, but also because of the sheer number of visiting fans that filled the Catalan coliseum, a situation that caused anger and crossed accusations between the leadership. and by Barcelona supporters.

About 30,000 Germans gave their gifts at Camp Nou, a number that quintupled the number of seats reserved for them in effect of the space allotted to them in the stadium. They are far from limiting themselves to that sector. They occupied the stands where they lived (and surpassed) the locals. How was it possible for that to happen when only 6,000 seats were reserved for fans far away and the rest were for Barça fans?

“We have 34,440 tickets for sale, although there are restrictions, because they cannot be purchased using German credit cards or using a German IP. Therefore, the club does not sell tickets to Germans, it imposed the restrictions that can be imposed and have been in place for six years, ”the president explained. Joan Laportaleft in the eye of the storm to happen.

“I am very upset about what happened, which is very serious. We were embarrassed and became sad that day because of the result and because of what happened in terms of the attendance of so many Germans at the stadium.”, Said the leader, who took responsibility for the incident and said he was working to find solutions, but immediately instructed Catalan fans.

“Members get priority in the first 24 hours and then (tickets) are sold to the general public. But those who bought them were sent to the Germans, this is evidence ”, he shot. And he pointed out that there was also a transfer of subscriptions, something that was not allowed. “Of the 37,746 season tickets taken, a portion also went to German fans. Therefore, there are two irregular behaviors, ”he explains.

The sale of tickets for the match against Eintracht brought to Barcelona a collection of three million euros, as revealed by institutional vice president, Elena Fort. However, that is not consolation. In order not to repeat the situation as it was on Thursday, Laporta announced that starting next season, seats for matches matching international competitions played at Camp Nou will be nominala proposal that the leadership has rejected so far “because it annoys and annoys partners with correct, normal and current behavior.”

The anger the club president said he felt was similar to that experienced by supporters who attended the stadium and seemed to be guests in their own home. To express their displeasure, the Animation Stand (the most noisy sector of fans) left the northern header of Camp Nou at halftime and he only returned to his seat 10 minutes after the second period.

“We agreed to this protest in times of tension because it was clear that games were played on the pitch and on the stand, and what was happening on the stand had an influence. But the club allowed it to disappear from the stands”, the argument of Albert Yarza, president of Almogàvers (the largest organized group of five that make up the Animation Stand), in statements collected by the newspaper World of sports. “We don’t want to deal with our feelings. Easy money is priority over having a local audience. Who can afford the 180 euros worth of most tickets?

Beyond the crossed accusations about who sent the tickets into the hands of Eintracht fans, there are several factors combined so that on Thursday there were more German supporters than Catalans: the decrease in the number of active subscribers registered by the club this season (it had 57,262, which is 7,728 less than last season), the scheduling of the match on a day of Holy Week (a very important holiday in Spain) and, most of all, the team’s unattractive season.

Unable to get through the group stage of the Champions League (finished third in Zone E behind Bayern Munich and Benfica), eliminated in the round of 16 of the Copa del Rey by Athletic Club de Bilbao and away from the battle for the Spanish League title (this is 12 points behind the leader of Real Madrid), Barça only had the Europa League as a consolation, a second-rate tournament for a club of this size. And also on Thursday, he let go of the last chance to lift the trophy as 30,000 Germans celebrated the victory of a team ninth in the Bundesliga and sought its first international crown in more than four decades (they won the old Bundesliga Cup. UEFA in 1980).

As if the eviction at home and the influx of the German were not enough reasons for annoyance, the Catalan club was exposed at this time to UEFA sanctions. On the one hand, due to the massive presence of Teutonic fans outside the security zone intended for them. On the other hand, due to lack of access controls that allow visiting fans to enter the coliseum with flares and beer cans.