3:08 PM ET
Sid LoweSpain writer
For the thousands and thousands of fans inside the Camp Nou, this was a night they would never forget. They had got there early, a huge mass of them walking from the city centre, congregating in Placa Catalunya, flooding up Avinguda Sarria and turning onto Diagonal. Occupying the road, no place for cars, it was like some giant march, an endless sea of supporters singing in the evening sunshine. The noise didn’t stop when they occupied their seats, which they didn’t occupy for long: after just four minutes they were on their feet celebrating the opening goal, a roar rolling ’round.
They had started before that, whistling their opponents and cheering their players as the teams were read out. Nor was that the only goal: two more followed and so did a famous victory, even if there were nerves in the final minutes as it seemed a comeback might happen, the referee implored to blow for full-time. When he did, their place in the Europa League semifinals secured, they didn’t leave: instead, they stood, applauded and sang. The footballers went on a lap of honour, pausing on all sides and in every corner, clapping back.
The players stopped in front of the stands and took a celebratory photo against the perfect backdrop: supporters packed in behind them, a great moment shared. When at long last the fans did eventually make for the exit, they headed back into the centre of one of Europe’s great cities. They walked Las Ramblas, celebrating. Placa Reial filled. Lots of them were still going strong past 3 a.m.
“I’ll always remember tonight; it was very emotional for us,” their manager said, “I saw a stadium full of white shirts.”
Wait, white?
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On Thursday during the second half of their Europa League quarterfinal second leg against Eintracht Frankfurt, Barcelona put out a tweet announcing the attendance at the Camp Nou. “Today there are 79,468 of us:…
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