April 15, (THEWILL) – The fact that a considerable number of Eintracht Frankfurt fans were able to purchase seats in the home end of the Camp Nou has made Barcelona president Joan Laporta confess that he was “ashamed.”
More than 30,000 Frankfurt supporters travelled to Spain to watch their team defeat Barcelona 3-2 on the night and 4-3 on aggregate. A considerable number of those fans were able to get tickets in the home end, prompting Laporta to launch an investigation into the incident.
Speaking not long after the club started looking into how it happened, Laporta said: “I can’t yet reach a proper conclusion. We’ve collected all the information from the security and ticketing departments.
“We are analysing everything. But unfortunately it 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 to them. Because tonight, as a Barca fan, I am ashamed of what happened.”
On the field, Frankfurt ended Barcelona’s 15-game unbeaten streak, and Xavi claimed the quantity of Frankfurt fans in the stadium startled him and that the club would look into it.
“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.”
With the loss, Barca appears to be on the verge of finishing the season without a trophy.
They are currently 12 points behind La Liga leaders Real Madrid, and a top-four finish is not yet guaranteed. Barca are second in the table, while Real Betis are only four points behind them in fifth place, despite having played one more game.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
