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Sid LoweSpanish writer
BARCELONA, Spain – This time, the Queen bowed first surname. The picture of Barcelona‘S Alexia Putellas 50 feet tall outside Camp Nou; now the reality is even higher right there, in front of them, above inside of Camp Nou. The Ballon d’Or winner, the best player in the world and the captain of the best club in the world, who she supported as a little girl, has just scored Real Madrid in the quarterfinals of the Champions League. That got a cheer as loud as anything heard here all year, this great old place sounds like it might fall.
An hour before, Mapi Leon scored. That also has a cheer. Aitana Bonmatiwho accessed the system here when it didn’t exactly a system (at least not like now), is also writable. And Claudia Pina, only 20 years old, her experience of the journey is different from those of veterans, has scored. When she did, she raised her hands in the shape of a heart. There is also a goal for Caroline Graham Hansen. “I will remember it for the rest of my life,” she said later. Or at least that’s what it’s like: It’s hard to hear the noise.
They are also cheered; each game is bigger than the last, a climax at the Camp Nou. But the biggest thing comes right near the end. The clock just hit 88.01 and the scoreboard says Barcelona 5-2 Real Madrid when it said something else, finally revealed the answer they had been waiting for as the Mexican wave circled, drums beat and people turned on. Not least because, according to the song, if you don’t bounce, you will Madridista.
Up to a number: 91,553.
Ninety-one thousand five hundred and fifty-three people. Everyone cheered, clapped, cheered and shared in this moment. All are record breakers.
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This is the biggest crowd Camp Nou has ever seen during the season, bigger than even the men’s team OLDlasicoand more than 5,000. This is not the first time Barcelona’s female players have competed at the Camp Nou, but it is the first time they have done so in front of fans – this generation, after all. This is the largest audience a women’s match has ever seen at a stadium in Spain, beating the previous record – when Barcelona visited Atletico in 2019 – of more than 30,000.
Spain? No women’s game anywhere has ever been played in front of a larger crowd. The previous record, set at the World Cup final in Los Angeles in 1999, was 1,368 fewer.
They actually did it, all together. It came close, but they got there. “We will remember this for the rest of our lives,” said Alexia.
When there are tickets for this game, Clasico – even if it’s not quite, not quite, it’s still natural to be one – they sold out quickly. “We’re not just talking about selling out stadiums,” said Markel Zubizarreta, sporting director of Barcelona Femeni. “We are talking about selling out the stadium in the three days and two months before the game.”
“This is a big statement for women’s football,” Fridolina Rolfo.
Quite how big, even they really can’t imagine. And they imagined something pretty good. “The fact that we were able to sell out the stadium is incredible, something we couldn’t even dream of, but it shows what Barcelona is. And it’s amazing, something to give the whole world sees”. Ingrid Engen said the day before. “Possibly the biggest match in the club’s history.” What they showed the world was exceptional; what they feel in the end is even better.
Once sales were confirmed, everyone knew the possibility of a record hit. “Many people come to our games not to watch women’s football but to watch good football,” said Zubizarreta.
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Barcelona are an outstanding team, a team whose design is considered to be the best Europe has ever seen, the quality of their play – technically, tactically, physically – is astounding. They are also restless, almost obsessed, and highly competitive. Their record is hard to believe: European champions last season, won the tournament for the third year in a row, title six weeks early, their record is: scored 138 goals, conceded 7.
Wednesday’s game was their third time scoring five goals in seven Champions League games; they scored four goals twice. In total, they played 36 games and won 36. There may be something, Zubizarreta admits, as they become the best team in Europe at a time when the men’s team is struggling, that helps them take their place. central mind, but this goes even deeper. , mirroring the mosaic that filled the Camp Nou stands before the game. “More than empowering,” it said.
This is a pioneer club, a club very conscious of its community, of its identity; a women’s football that has grown and built it, not just usurped it. And this event, well, is an event. Someone they want together to make something special to build it into something big. Landfilling is a task, a challenge, a kind of collective effort.
It was over an hour to go when the team bus turned into the concourse in front of the Camp Nou, descending the hill past thousands of fans. Flares and fireworks, flags everywhere. As it made its way through the crowd, palms could be seen inside banging against the window. “We did flipandoAitana said. Alexia added: “As the bus came in, we could see so many faces, so many people, so many girls.”
As the teams stepped onto the pitch, the club’s song was heard all around. “I almost cried,” Aitana confessed.
It was early on a wet Wednesday evening, a place of strikes. A lot of people are still working. When the game starts, there can be 50,000 people there. A huge crowd by anyone’s judgment – 10 of the men’s matches have lower attendances and only one women’s match in Spain has more people – but there’s still a long way to go.
However, here’s the thing. Well, two things: It’s still filling and steady. There’s something about that that goes hand in hand with performance, which just keeps getting better.
And after a while, it doesn’t even matter anymore. It’s still loading, and it’s still humming. Very, very big. Anyway this is great, everyone as well as the players there are participants. Too noisy, too much life. A true party. The relationship between the stands and the field is tense and tight. The song is never heard. This may be a new competition, but it is quickly becoming a reality. Drums beat, fans clapped so hard that their palms hurt and their throats burned. And it all feels like it really means something.
One measure of that is that even the Real Madrid coach called it “a great sight, a spectacular match for women’s football.”
It’s really hard to recall any match at Camp Nou where the volume was so high – the defining characteristic is also communion. Jonathan Giraldez said: “I told my players to simply qualify to qualify; we have to show. 2/3 possession time, 25 shots, 5 goals. But dangerous enough to create the impression that this was a competition, Madrid certainly played their part. The Claudia Zornoza The goal that put Madrid ahead was incredible.
If they’re on a show, so are the fans. When Madrid were awarded a penalty, they chanted “whoever doesn’t shoot is Madridista; “On her way to score, Sandra Panos popped up. They sang the Barcelona song.” Being a Barcelona fan is the best thing there is,” they chanted.
Here, it really is. This is just, well, a lot of fun. The way football is supposed to be. There was a Mexican wave. A stadium full of lights, thousands of phones raised, torches blazing. The mosaic has been brought up again, three or four times, and it looks even better than it did at first. As the final minutes passed happily, another song played: “Florentino, where are you?” The president of Real Madrid was not there, but a lot of people were there, and they made such a night. “The atmosphere was brutal,” said Giraldez. “It’s hard to explain the emotions we have.”
This is a certain night, even if there aren’t enough of them. However, they want to know. There’s something about waiting for the attendance number – much longer than a regular game – that makes it feel even more meaningful, a big reveal. And when they finally found out that there had been enough of them, that they had made it, that each of them ended up being the record holder, they exploded.
When the final whistle blew, a number of Barcelona players fell to their knees and the fans stood up. A standing ovation accompanies them. Well, that’s it, it’s just that they’re not going anywhere. Neither did the supporters. “I have to hold back my tears because this is so crazy,” Graham Hansen said as he looked around. “The fans didn’t leave! They stayed to celebrate with us. It wasn’t just 91,000 fans, it was 91,000 Barcelona fans and they sang the whole game.”
The players approached them, the empty stick handed to Alexia. “We’ll remember this for a lifetime,” she said when they had finally completed a long, long round of honors, which came back and didn’t want to go yet. Better to be there and make the most of it, what was once unimaginable has now become something to recreate, maybe even a new era. “This is just the beginning,” Aitana said. She knew how far they’d come, remembering late-night training sessions with shabby facilities, an unprofessional match, but not far enough in the past. This is an appearance, and also a beginning. This shows it can work, it can be done.
“It’s totally possible to monetize it,” notes Graham Hansen, “not just 91,000; 91,000 people are partying. And if you’re having fun, you want to do it again. So this is a game changer. .”
“Super magic,” the Queen called it. Bow your heads, people.
