Big football in Barcelona

Roman Yudkin, aka markych, says: “Perhaps no football fan would refuse to attend the Barcelona match against Ajax in the Champions League, especially at the legendary Camp Nou. During my last trip to Spain, I was lucky to attend such a match, but not only to attend, but also to shoot excellent photographic material, which I will be happy to share with you. There were a lot of photos, so I broke the post into two parts. Today I will show you the stadium, the store for the fans and tell you about the preparation for the match.

(Total 43 photos)

Source: Journal/markych

Getting to the match was very easy. There was no rush for tickets, perhaps because it was the first match of the Champions League group stage. Most likely, getting to the stadium becomes much more difficult and expensive closer to the final. While in Lloret de Mar, I just went to one of the tourist shops and bought a match ticket combined with a bus transfer. The ticket itself could be purchased cheaper on the club's website, but then you would have to take care of the return separately. In addition, there are no return flights from Barcelona at this time and you would have to stay in Barcelona for the night. In this case, the trip would have been even more expensive.

Actually, I'm not that big of a football fan: I don't have a favorite team, I don't go to the stadium, and I only watch the most interesting matches on TV, for example, the World Cup. I also watch the most important matches of our national team, of course. But seeing one of the best teams in the world at a legendary world-class stadium is like visiting a local landmark. Moreover, the Camp Nou is one of the main attractions of Barcelona, and the football club of the same name is wildly popular here.”

1. Camp Nou is located near the city center. Translated from Catalan, the name simply means "new field". It was opened in 1957 to replace the old Camp de Les Corts stadium. During and after construction, it was simply called “new”, but the name stuck, and was even adopted as official in 2000.

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3. Since the opening of the Camp Nou, it has been owned by the Barcelona club. In fact, it was built for him.

4. Already in front of the entrance there are souvenir merchants. As far as I understand, this is not an official product of the club. Let's get to the official store.

5. Scarves, t-shirts, caps - whatever you want.

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7. And here is the official store of the club. This is a huge two-story supermarket, the choice of branded items here is simply huge.

8. Before the start of the match, a huge number of fans accumulate here.

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11. You can also order embroidery of your name on boots, there is a special machine for this

12. Below is another huge floor with goods. Everything is very high quality and tastefully decorated.

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16. There were about two hours left before the start of the match, the bus arrived with a large margin. Therefore, I had enough time to walk around and shoot around the stadium. People are starting to gradually pull up to the match.

17. Access to the stadium is very well thought out. The flow of visitors is evenly distributed over several dozen entrances, then into a hundred "gates", each of which, in turn, is divided into passages leading to sectors. The recommended numbers are written on the ticket, and if you use these recommendations, you will quickly find yourself in the right sector and easily find your seat.

18. The first level of control: only tickets are checked here. I was worried that they might miss the camera with a couple of lenses, but there were no problems.

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20. The police are pulling up. Look at the uniform and berets, it looks very cool!

21. Several gates are reserved for Ajax fans. They are scrutinized much more carefully than others. Full search, get everything out of your pockets.

22. Even the zone was cordoned off in case of conflicts with Barcelona fans.

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24. Corridors inside the stadium. You can climb the stairs to the upper tiers. There are no transitions between sectors. To get to another sector, you need to enter through another gate, but you will most likely not be allowed in, because your ticket contains your gate number. During the break between halves, the corridors are selling various food.

25. Camp Nou is just huge! When you first enter the open space of this stadium, the feeling is simply indescribable. Photographs cannot convey this sense of scale and magnificence. By the way, you can come to Camp Nou not only during matches, but almost on any day with an excursion. But during the Champions League match, when the stadium is full, it's a completely different matter!

26. Camp Nou can accommodate almost 100 thousand spectators, it is the most spacious stadium in Europe. It is intended only for football (as you can see, there are no running tracks, etc.). Concerts are also held here: Frank Sinatra, Michael Jackson, U2 performed here.

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28. In 2007, a stadium modernization project was approved to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Camp Nou. In accordance with the project, the stadium's capacity was to increase to 106,000 spectators. In addition, it was planned to install a retractable roof, double the space for media and VIP guests, build escalators and elevators, and install movable polycarbonate and glass plates on the facade to create lighting effects. However, due to the onset of the financial crisis, these plans have not yet been implemented.

29. There are about 40 minutes left before the start of the match. The stands are still half empty, the people are slowly pulling themselves up. Everything is very quiet, calm, measured.

30. Lodge for guests of honor

31. At the very top - a sector reserved specifically for Ajax fans

32. Everyone is waiting for the appearance of the players on the field.

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35. About 30 minutes before the start of the match, to the cheers of their fans, the Ajax players come out.

36. Then the home team appears along with the head coach.

37. Separately knead the goalkeeper. The stadium, meanwhile, is already full, everyone is waiting for the start of the match.

38. Messi first warms up with everyone, then separately. All the players are absolutely calm, one might even say a little lethargic.

39. Messi is the best football player in the world right now.

40. About 10 minutes before the start of the match, everyone leaves the field and the lawn is refreshed a little.

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42. Just before the start, a group of people run out onto the field and, to the anthem of the League of Champions, raise a huge emblem in the center of the field.

43. The formation of the players is over, everyone disperses, in a couple of minutes the duel will begin.