FC Barcelona Game

FC Barcelona vs. Almeira

March 2, 2014

On March 2, I had the opportunity to really experience a real Barcelona tradition: a futbol game!  FC Barcelona was playing at home at Camp Nou against Almeira.  I had been looking forward to going to this game for a while since it had been planned since my first weeks in Barcelona.  I was excited to see what all the hype was about since I know that people are really passionate about their futbol team.  I was expecting it to be crazy, rowdy and filled with a lot of people cheering and screaming for their favorite players.

Before the game, my roommates and I went a local place for food and drinks.  We had been to this bar (George Payne's) many times before and were not surprised to see other students there who were also planning on going to the game.  We hung out there for almost two hours and then joined with other students who were going to the game as well.

Camp Nou where FC Barcelona plays is the biggest stadium I have ever seen.  It has almost 100,000 seats! Seats were blocks off for us students so we were able to sit wherever we wanted.  We sat in the 2nd row! It was so cool being so close and in that type of environment.  I have been to football, basketball and baseball games before but nothing is close to the hype of this soccer game.  The people live and breathe soccer and it shows.  They are always chanting and rooting on their beloved team.  FC Barca is one of the most (if not the most) profitable and expensive soccer teams in the world - everyone knows about them and they are talked about by all the locals all the time.  The fans all dress up in their favorite players jerseys (most of them wore Messi shirts) and bring flags and wave them around.  In the 17th minute of the game, it is a tradition that they sing their Independence song and everyone whistles and waves the flags they brought.

There were 2 local people sitting behind us.  We started to ask them questions about the game and about the players and eventually got to talking about their life.  We asked if they were from Spain and they replied that they weren't.  We asked where they were from then and they responded with "Catalonia."  This was the first time I had heard a person talk like this.  Even though they live in Barcelona, they truly don't believe that they live in Spain.  From their response, I could tell their political stance on wanting Catalonia to become an independent country away from Spain.  I usually just hear about it in the news but this was the first time I had heard a real local person acknowledge a potential change in their country.  This was a really interesting conversation I had and it left me thinking the rest of the game about how passionate people were at the stadium about their futbol team but also their potential country of Catalonia.

Experiencing something I had heard about from other people was amazing.  It was very clear they love their team and really get into the chanting and cheering.  It was unlike something I had ever experienced before.  Going to a futbol game is something I highly recommend because it really shows the true passion and culture of a country.  They are all able to come together to agree and root together for the same cause.  I really enjoyed being a part of this cultural experience and hopefully I get another chance to go to a game again!