'I am ashamed' – Joan Laporta after Eintracht Frankfurt fans take over Camp Nou in shock win over Barcelona
Updated 15/04/2022 at 16:07 GMT
Barcelona president Joan Laporta has opened an investigation after a large number of Eintracht Frankfurt fans managed to get tickets in the home end for the Europa League quarter-final at the Camp Nou. Laporta said the situation had left him “ashamed of what happened”. Frankfurt won 3-2 on the night and 4-3 on aggregate.
‘I am ashamed’ - Laporta after Frankfurt fans take over Camp Nou
Barcelona president Joan Laporta has said he was “ashamed” after a large number of Eintracht Frankfurt fans managed to get tickets in the home end of the Camp Nou.
Over 30,000 Frankfurt fans travelled to Spain to watch their side beat Barcelona 3-2 on the night and 4-3 on aggregate. A large number of those fans managed to get tickets in the home end, and Laporta said that he has opened an investigation into the matter.
"I can't yet reach to a proper conclusion,” began the Barcelona president.
“We've collected all the information from the security and ticketing departments.
“We are analysing everything. But unfortunately all leads to a series of undesirable situations. Something that would never have taken place. Once we've gathered all the necessary information we will implement measures. And we will explain them.
“Because tonight, as a Barca fan, I am ashamed of what happened."
On the pitch, Frankfurt brought Barcelona’s 15-game unbeaten run to an end, and Barca manager Xavi said the number of Frankfurt fans in the ground had surprised him, and insisted the club would investigate.
“I was expecting 70,000 or 80,000 cules [Barca fans] here but it wasn’t like that,” he said. “It seemed like a final, with a divided crowd, and a lot of Germans. The club is checking what happened, but there has been a miscalculation.”
The loss means Barca look set to end the season without a trophy.
They are 12 points behind La Liga leaders Real Madrid and are not yet guaranteed a top-four finish. Barca are second in the table but fifth-placed Real Betis are only four points behind, albeit having played a game more.
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Every single Barcelona representative insists that the club is conducting an internal investigation. It seems both the case there were some season ticket holders reselling their seats and Frankfurt fans buying tickets on general sale. It was a mess and it seems that nobody knew how to handle the situation properly.
There are several theories, some journalists from Barcelona claim that the club wanted to sell the tickets to make cash (due to the difficult economic situation at the club) no matter how. The truth is that some season ticket holders had the chance to put their tickets on hold this season due to the pandemic, so there are 25,000 tickets for sale in every match.
That was a key factor, but Enric Masip - Joan Laporta's adviser - also said that there were some tour-operators selling tickets without authorization as well as season ticket holders selling their fan ID temporarily to German fans. To sum up, it was the perfect storm and Eintracht fans made the most out of the situation. The holiday period in Spain didn't help Barcelona either
We have seen so many Barcelona games with half the stadium full, but never with so many fans from the visiting team. It was an absolute nonsense and I'm sure it will be one of the saddest pages in Barcelona's history.
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