Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
There's no more invigorating introduction to Catalan passions than to take in a match at the
magnificent
CampNou
(“New Ground”) stadium, sited in the Les Corts neighbourhood, be-
hind the university buildings. This was built in 1957, and enlarged for the 1982 World Cup
semi-final to accommodate 98,000 people (a more recent plan to increase the capacity to
106,000andgivethestadium'sexterioraGaudí-inspiredfaceliftwasabandonedin2010due,
in part, to the financial crisis). The stadium provides one of the best football-watching exper-
iences in the world and the matches can be an invigorating introduction to Catalan passions.
while the stadium complex also hosts basketball, handball and hockey games with FC Bar-
celona's other professional teams. There's also a public ice rink, souvenir store and café.
IT'S ONLY A GAME?
Somepeoplebelievefootballisamatteroflifeordeath…Icanassureyouitismuch,muchmoreimportantthan
that.
Bill Shankly
There isn't a Catalan football supporter who wouldn't agree with Liverpool legend and
quip-meister Bill Shankly. These are fans who boo their own team if they think the per-
formance isn't up to scratch, thousands of white handkerchiefs waving along in disapprov-
al. A disappointing season is seen as a slur on the Catalan nation, and if success goes in-
stead to bitter rivals Real Madrid, then the pain is almost too much to bear. When team
figureheadandcaptain
LuisFigo
wastransferredtoMadridin2000(oneofonlyahandful
to have played for both clubs), the outrage was almost comical in its ferocity - at a later
match between the two sides, a pig's head was thrown onto the pitch as Figo prepared to
take a corner. In recent years, though, there has been a lot more cheering than booing, as
theteamhasplayedwithaswaggerrarelyseeninmodernclubfootball.Undertheirformer
coach
Josep “Pep” Guardiola
- one-time Barça player and all-Catalan hero - Barcelona
evolved into a team ofscintillating beauty,not only running rings around rivals from home
and abroad, but also providing the bulk of the side that won the World Cup for Spain for
the first time in 2010. The Barcelona style - don't give the ball away, ever, period - is
learned at
LaMasia
, the club's own training centre and school for young footballers, most
of whom are Catalan or come at an early age from elsewhere. Half the current team are
graduates, including the peerless, best-in-the-world, Lionel Messi. Things change quickly
in football - Guardiola left in 2012 to manage Bayern Munich - but the production line at
La Masia is the best guarantee that boos and white hankies will be absent from the Camp
Nou for a while longer yet.
