08 03 2006 Oh well, just the league and FA Cup left then
So the inevitable occurred and we lost to Barcelona over two legs. There are no doubts that they have a great team -
both in defence and attack - but I expected a more adventurous Chelsea line up. Even when we were 0-0 at half time I
thought perhaps Jose would go mental and put Crespo and SWP on, and take one defender and perhaps Lampard off.
Having said that, Crespo missed a good chance that would have put us back into the tie. In the end it was too little, too
late - although I would have the referee from the first leg to thank for that. Perhaps Jose should also receive some
criticism. If we had topped the group then perhaps all this wouldn't have happened. Real Betis away was a great
example of where we seemed to take the game lightly, and we have paid for it as a consequence. Too many ifs....
So I headed out on the day of the match with only one hour's sleep. EasyJet departed late - this time it was the fault of
French air traffic control who were on strike as per usual. The Barcelona El Prat airport is Prat by name and by nature.
As per usual there was only one guy checking passports... and they did X Rays on our luggage as we left the airport -
that's a first for me! The bus from the airport - only twenty minutes or so to Placa de Cataluna - deposited me on the
door of my hotel.
The Monegal hotel was one of the worst I have ever stayed in! Friendly enough staff, but £50 for a tiny single room with
no breakfast, a towel the size of a postage stamp, a view of a wall, and a heater that sounds like a helicopter landing
when you switch it on. The echo there was so bad that if someone farted in their room on the ground floor you could
hear it on the fourth!
I had an hour's kip before setting out to get the beers in before the game. It was good to bump into the same old people
who go to most of our away games. Little surprise most Chelsea fans spent their money in Irish themed bars. You go all
the way to Spain and don't sample the local culture! In reality, they were the only places Chelsea fans could congregate
en masse and get some sherbets in.
On the whole, the atmosphere was pretty subdued before the game. We had the usual singsongs, but there didn't seem
to be that nonstop chanting that we had last year. Perhaps our fans were not feeling confident before the game - I
certainly wasn't.
So we set off early for the game and arrived in good time to sample some of the bars around the ground. The locals
were friendly as per usual and we had a good sing song. Bit of advice though - if you were the 40 year old bloke who
tried to sing Zigger Zagger - please learn the words. It's not difficult is it? Very embarrassing. Throughout the build up to
the match we had no problems with the locals as per usual, despite the media trying to set it up as World War III between
the fans. Just as at Chelsea, the majority of their fans are not there for the trouble - just to watch football.
The Camp Nou is an amazingly bizarre stadium. Not just because you can more or less enter any part of the stadium
with your ticket. It seems to have been built with a Lego mentality in mind - add more tiers when you need it. Spanish
health and safety is not very high on their priority, and I am surprised noone has died falling off the stadium, as there is
not one single wall on the perimeter of the stadium that is above waist height! Maybe us Basil Fawltys are taller than the
average Manuels. With no roof, the atmosphere is very subdued as singing is lost to the night sky. The home fans are
only vociferous if their team is winning and I would take our atmosphere at the Bridge any day of the week. It seems that
with such a large capacity they also have their fair share of glory hunters too! It was nice to see that the stadium was
pretty much full with few spaces left in the Chelsea end.
The row numbers on the ticket were irrelevant as they usually are for away European games, although I was happy to sit
down anywhere having nearly had a heart attack climbing up twenty flights of stairs.
Chelsea fans were in buoyant mood and we seemed to have smuggled about three tonnes of celery into our end. As the
match wore on, Chelsea fans used these as missiles to throw into the home fans below us. Pretty harmless in a way, but
a bit silly. What really angered me, however, were the idiots throwing coins into the home end. Particularly as whenever I
have gone to see Chelsea play in Barca the locals are more than friendly to us. People who do this are morons, and if
they want a ruck, then go and meet their firm before the game for a punch up instead of trying to prove how hard you
are by giving pensioners gaping head wounds. Barcelona are partly to blame - the police treated us like cattle and gave
us arguably the seats furthest away from the pitch - but it doesn't excuse such idiotic behaviour.
At half time, with the score at 0-0 you could feel our fans were not optimistic. The singing was pretty average - even
though we had outsung the home fans throughout the first half. There were no changes to the team that came out, and
so the writing seemed to be on the wall. Barca scored with a tremendous goal from Ronaldinho. It didn't really matter as
we had needed two goals whether Barca scored or not! Chelsea equalised, but it was too late. We were out. I was too
disappointed to even go out for further drinking and decided to head straight back to the hotel.
As per usual we were held in for an hour after the game. The match finished at 1040 local time - I only got to the local
underground station at midnight. I boarded the train with other disgruntled Chelsea fans who were of the view that the
refereeing decision in the first leg had cost us this tie.
On reaching the Place de Cataluna, I saw a calculator being thrown down some stairs as I exited out of the tube station.
As I emerged, it seemed some kind of mini riot was taking place. Some young Barca fans had set fire to some rubbish
and I expect were hoping for a Chelsea mob to turn up. The police soon dispersed them, and most Chelsea fans around
found it bizarre that a group of eighteen year olds in Barcelona shirts with back packs on would try to provoke our fans
into a fight!
I slept fitfully that night, and today went to see the Espanol Barcelona stadium. A soulless, grey place, it is part of the
Olympic area that was used during Espana 92. I guess the club was forced to use the stadium as otherwise the area
would have been a white elephant after the Games had finished. They are building a new stadium on the outskirts of
town. Their club shop was a portakabin, and the stalls around the stadium were selling more Barcelona souvenirs than
Espanol ones!
The flight back was late as usual. I bought a few newspapers that waxed lyrical about Barcelona and criticised a solid,
but perhaps conservative Chelsea performance. Liverpool are out now, and Arsenal are now the only British team in the
Champions League. Well, when I say British, I mean the only team with no English players in it. I wish them well, and
wonder what the papers will say if they get drawn to Barca.
Overall an enjoyable trip and one that I shall miss. Barcelona is a wonderful city, although there is an undercurrent of
street crime that resides there. Many Chelsea fans had been mugged, and one beaten up for having the temerity to
dance in a club, although mostly by non-Spanish citizens. The Catalans are extremely hospitable, and appreciate the
money fans like us bring to the area. In a way, I hope Barcelona win the Champions League. Then we would know that
at least we had lost to the eventual winners. There are too many "ifs" but know we will bounce back. I won't cry if we
"only" win the Premier League and the FA Cup!
The only conclusion to take from this is how important seemingly small decisions can cost a club. Whether it is a sending
off, or the manager deciding to take a qualifying game lightly, matches in the Champions League are never predictable!
Bring on the Spurs!
both in defence and attack - but I expected a more adventurous Chelsea line up. Even when we were 0-0 at half time I
thought perhaps Jose would go mental and put Crespo and SWP on, and take one defender and perhaps Lampard off.
Having said that, Crespo missed a good chance that would have put us back into the tie. In the end it was too little, too
late - although I would have the referee from the first leg to thank for that. Perhaps Jose should also receive some
criticism. If we had topped the group then perhaps all this wouldn't have happened. Real Betis away was a great
example of where we seemed to take the game lightly, and we have paid for it as a consequence. Too many ifs....
So I headed out on the day of the match with only one hour's sleep. EasyJet departed late - this time it was the fault of
French air traffic control who were on strike as per usual. The Barcelona El Prat airport is Prat by name and by nature.
As per usual there was only one guy checking passports... and they did X Rays on our luggage as we left the airport -
that's a first for me! The bus from the airport - only twenty minutes or so to Placa de Cataluna - deposited me on the
door of my hotel.
The Monegal hotel was one of the worst I have ever stayed in! Friendly enough staff, but £50 for a tiny single room with
no breakfast, a towel the size of a postage stamp, a view of a wall, and a heater that sounds like a helicopter landing
when you switch it on. The echo there was so bad that if someone farted in their room on the ground floor you could
hear it on the fourth!
I had an hour's kip before setting out to get the beers in before the game. It was good to bump into the same old people
who go to most of our away games. Little surprise most Chelsea fans spent their money in Irish themed bars. You go all
the way to Spain and don't sample the local culture! In reality, they were the only places Chelsea fans could congregate
en masse and get some sherbets in.
On the whole, the atmosphere was pretty subdued before the game. We had the usual singsongs, but there didn't seem
to be that nonstop chanting that we had last year. Perhaps our fans were not feeling confident before the game - I
certainly wasn't.
So we set off early for the game and arrived in good time to sample some of the bars around the ground. The locals
were friendly as per usual and we had a good sing song. Bit of advice though - if you were the 40 year old bloke who
tried to sing Zigger Zagger - please learn the words. It's not difficult is it? Very embarrassing. Throughout the build up to
the match we had no problems with the locals as per usual, despite the media trying to set it up as World War III between
the fans. Just as at Chelsea, the majority of their fans are not there for the trouble - just to watch football.
The Camp Nou is an amazingly bizarre stadium. Not just because you can more or less enter any part of the stadium
with your ticket. It seems to have been built with a Lego mentality in mind - add more tiers when you need it. Spanish
health and safety is not very high on their priority, and I am surprised noone has died falling off the stadium, as there is
not one single wall on the perimeter of the stadium that is above waist height! Maybe us Basil Fawltys are taller than the
average Manuels. With no roof, the atmosphere is very subdued as singing is lost to the night sky. The home fans are
only vociferous if their team is winning and I would take our atmosphere at the Bridge any day of the week. It seems that
with such a large capacity they also have their fair share of glory hunters too! It was nice to see that the stadium was
pretty much full with few spaces left in the Chelsea end.
The row numbers on the ticket were irrelevant as they usually are for away European games, although I was happy to sit
down anywhere having nearly had a heart attack climbing up twenty flights of stairs.
Chelsea fans were in buoyant mood and we seemed to have smuggled about three tonnes of celery into our end. As the
match wore on, Chelsea fans used these as missiles to throw into the home fans below us. Pretty harmless in a way, but
a bit silly. What really angered me, however, were the idiots throwing coins into the home end. Particularly as whenever I
have gone to see Chelsea play in Barca the locals are more than friendly to us. People who do this are morons, and if
they want a ruck, then go and meet their firm before the game for a punch up instead of trying to prove how hard you
are by giving pensioners gaping head wounds. Barcelona are partly to blame - the police treated us like cattle and gave
us arguably the seats furthest away from the pitch - but it doesn't excuse such idiotic behaviour.
At half time, with the score at 0-0 you could feel our fans were not optimistic. The singing was pretty average - even
though we had outsung the home fans throughout the first half. There were no changes to the team that came out, and
so the writing seemed to be on the wall. Barca scored with a tremendous goal from Ronaldinho. It didn't really matter as
we had needed two goals whether Barca scored or not! Chelsea equalised, but it was too late. We were out. I was too
disappointed to even go out for further drinking and decided to head straight back to the hotel.
As per usual we were held in for an hour after the game. The match finished at 1040 local time - I only got to the local
underground station at midnight. I boarded the train with other disgruntled Chelsea fans who were of the view that the
refereeing decision in the first leg had cost us this tie.
On reaching the Place de Cataluna, I saw a calculator being thrown down some stairs as I exited out of the tube station.
As I emerged, it seemed some kind of mini riot was taking place. Some young Barca fans had set fire to some rubbish
and I expect were hoping for a Chelsea mob to turn up. The police soon dispersed them, and most Chelsea fans around
found it bizarre that a group of eighteen year olds in Barcelona shirts with back packs on would try to provoke our fans
into a fight!
I slept fitfully that night, and today went to see the Espanol Barcelona stadium. A soulless, grey place, it is part of the
Olympic area that was used during Espana 92. I guess the club was forced to use the stadium as otherwise the area
would have been a white elephant after the Games had finished. They are building a new stadium on the outskirts of
town. Their club shop was a portakabin, and the stalls around the stadium were selling more Barcelona souvenirs than
Espanol ones!
The flight back was late as usual. I bought a few newspapers that waxed lyrical about Barcelona and criticised a solid,
but perhaps conservative Chelsea performance. Liverpool are out now, and Arsenal are now the only British team in the
Champions League. Well, when I say British, I mean the only team with no English players in it. I wish them well, and
wonder what the papers will say if they get drawn to Barca.
Overall an enjoyable trip and one that I shall miss. Barcelona is a wonderful city, although there is an undercurrent of
street crime that resides there. Many Chelsea fans had been mugged, and one beaten up for having the temerity to
dance in a club, although mostly by non-Spanish citizens. The Catalans are extremely hospitable, and appreciate the
money fans like us bring to the area. In a way, I hope Barcelona win the Champions League. Then we would know that
at least we had lost to the eventual winners. There are too many "ifs" but know we will bounce back. I won't cry if we
"only" win the Premier League and the FA Cup!
The only conclusion to take from this is how important seemingly small decisions can cost a club. Whether it is a sending
off, or the manager deciding to take a qualifying game lightly, matches in the Champions League are never predictable!
Bring on the Spurs!
