A Barça tide in San Mamés and Bilbao
In a complicated season for the Barça men’s section that ended yesterday with the dismissal of Xavi as coach, the women’s team has been a relief and has brought the greatest joys for the entity. Not only for achieving a triplet of titles—League, Super Cup and Cup—which can be rounded off with an unprecedented poker if they beat Olympique de Lyon in San Mamés on this sunny and hot afternoon, but for what it has meant for the social mass. Some 35,000 culés came to Bilbao this weekend, the second largest mobilization in Barça history, only behind the 45,000 who traveled to Seville to witness the 1986 Champions League final lost against Steaua Bucharest.
The Biscayan capital has been flooded with Barcelona fans—the tram and buses have operated with great difficulty—to the point that this afternoon the attendance record for a Champions League final is expected to be broken: the 50,212 spectators there were. in 2012 at the Olympic Stadium in Munich in Lyon’s victory against Eintracht. The Barça mobilization contrasts with that of the fans of their rival today, the all-powerful Lyon, the most successful club in the history of the Champions League with eight trophies. Behind the goal where Endler is warming up right now there are hundreds of French fans wearing white t-shirts, but the rest of the stadium is completely dyed in Barça. Almost as if Barcelona were playing at home.
