Last night we suddenly were offered tickets for the football. In Catalunya football means FC Barcelona.  And the match we saw ended like this

I thought Scotland was football mad until I came here –  Messi, Camp Nou and the club that is ‘més que un club’ –  inspire passionate devotion and on the television you can rarely escape news from Barça for more than 60 minutes.  I don’t know much about football and I have never even been to a schoolboys match  but I was very excited at the prospect of the real thing.  And since my decision last year to learn more I have been waiting for the chance to see them play.
I remember living in Tottenham, London and on Saturdays avoiding the High Street as I didn’t like being being jostled and teased by the sometimes drunk and excitable fans as they drove up towards the stadium like a herd of young bullocks.
Arriving at Camp Nou was very different. We easily found a space in a nearby car park and although there were lots of people nudging gently up the street wearing scarlet and blue scarves, they were chatting happily with no sign of beer cans or bellies

Once inside the turnstile we headed for our door – Porta 99.  Suddenly I remembered a dream from years ago of going to a football match. The entrance was just the same, like passing through layers of an onion towards the centre where the action would take place. Without ever visiting a stadium I knew what it would be like!  Perhaps dreams really do foretell future sometimes.
Inside we had seats behind the north goal

 The pitch seemed brighter and more vivid than I had expected. Smaller too and more intimate. When the players came out I had one of those ‘hey this is for real’ moments – it was nothing like watching football on television.
The match was absorbing. Especially the first half when 3 goals came in quick succession. There is a helpful screen above the seating just in case you missed the huge burst of applause, cries and emotion.

 I wanted Almeria to score at least once so that it wasn’t so much like slaughtering the innocent but after a while I stopped caring and just enjoyed the spectacle.
……Pause to wonder – is this such a good thing?
People say that it is better on TV as you can see everything properly.  For me the opposite was true. I liked being able to watch the parts that the TV doesn’t show.  From what you see on the television you’d think they all run about all the time but they don’t. Messi sometimes just ambles about in his orange shoes

He springs into action when the ball comes near and then his legs move like motors. I watched the Almerian goalkeeper helping Xavi when he was rolling groaning on the ground and all the action and everyone else had moved to the other end of the pitch.  I watched Guardiola on the sidelines, dressed in a sharp suit and very long shoes that didn’t look suitable for running anywhere

In the second half during a lull in the action the crowd started ‘una onada’ – a wave of hands that ripples around the crowd – as it nears you a shout goes up, que ve, que ve, que veeeeee!  And then you join in by standing up and raising and lowering your arms. I have no idea if this is a normal football crowd game or not but it was impressive to feel it for the first time. And there is also something satisfying about moving the action off the pitch for a few moments and creating a massive wave with thousands of other people.
Messi and Guardiola line dancing together…..

At half time the pitch is sprinkled with water – the team likes it wet as the ball moves faster. They also slip more often but other teams find it a disadvantage if they are used to dry grass.

I don’t normally put pictures of me on the blog but… …just to prove I was there….
and if you would like to hear the Barça anthem that is sung at the beginning and close of play here it is