I do not like football and I’m not too interested in football. But these days it was difficult to live in Barcelona without hearing about the match against Manchester in Roma. BMW has said it would pay the bill to extend the closure of the underground to two in the morning if Barça won the European Cup so people can go to Canaletes to hold it (In Barcelona, it is the tradition to celebrate the great public things in Canaletes, a fountain at the top of the Rambles). And BMW had to pay because the club won.
Everyone says the team has made history (No one knows exactly what that means until it is history, but then it is too late to change what he said). It is true that one hundred thousand people (100,000!) went to the city center (Canaletes area is too little) to celebrate the victory after the match. This is the first time in Catalonia (I do not know if this is the case in the world) that everyone agree the number: 100.000. Usually there is a difference in the numbers of participation, depending on who is the counter. Participation is very high, certainly, so I think it could be a prove that Barça is more than a club. This is a phrase much repeated here but nobody really knows exactly what it means.
Some things are forever in my memory:
- The vision of Mr. Berlusconi asleeping next to the King of Spain suffering by the match, because is a very humane view of politics.
- The vision of the King of Spain surrounded by so many flags, but none of Spanish, because it shows the enormeous complexity of my country.
It is likely that many people speak of the force of the victory and the goals that players scored. I’ve heard to say things like this is more art than football. My memories are few other; but I began by saying I’m not interested in football.
Sorry.
