"'Goosebumps' read the headline of major Barcelona newspaper 'SPORT' at newsstands across the city on Sunday morning. Los Cules ended their two-and-a-half year, 909-day Spotify Camp Nou exile in style with a convincing 4-0 win over Athletic Club. Culers young and old reacquainted themselves with their pre-match rituals, paused for so long. Les Corts metro station bustled once more on a Saturday afternoon."
"Since its inauguration in 1957, the Spotify Camp Nou, as it is now termed for sponsorship purposes, has played host to Barcelona's home fixtures. Only on the rarest of occasions has the team played home matches elsewhere. A hiatus of almost two-and-a-half years is a strange situation for any football club to find itself in, never mind one with as strong a cultural identity as the Catalan giants."
"A lot can happen in 909 days, not least the relinquishing and regaining of a league title, as well as the emergence of the one player in world football who appears capable of challenging the legendary Lionel Messi's Barcelona legacy. The make-up of this Barca team has changed, too. Sergio Busquets, Gerard Pique, Memphis Depay, Jordi Alba and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were all on the club's pay-roll the last time a competitive match was hosted at Spotify Camp Nou."
Barcelona ended a 909-day absence from Spotify Camp Nou with a 4-0 victory over Athletic Club, prompting jubilant fan rituals and packed transport hubs. The team had played home fixtures at Montjuic for 29 months while the stadium underwent a major engineering project. The stadium originally opened in 1957 and rarely hosts matches elsewhere, making the long hiatus remarkable for a club with deep cultural roots. The squad has transformed since the last competitive game there, with several past stars no longer on the payroll and a renewed emphasis on youth and La Masia graduates under coach Hansi Flick.
Read at www.fourfourtwo.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]