Football

FCBarcelona dominates football in the city and attending a Barça match is an incredible experience. Fans from other football-mad countries may find the atmosphere a little tame as being a Barça season ticket holder is something of a Catalan society affair. Everyone is welcome in the stadium though, and a capacity of more than 100,000 means that for some games you can just turn up on the day and get a ticket. The city has another top-flight side, RCD Espanyol (see next entry), who were Uefa Cup finalists in 2007. Throughout the football season (September to June), Barça and Espanyol play at home on alternate weekends, usually on Sunday evenings but often on Saturdays (check newspapers for days and kick-off times, which can often change up to a week before a game). Oe or the other will ordinarily have a mid-week cup fixture too. Elsewhere, Europa of Gràcia and Júpiter of Poble Nou are semi-pro outfits with respectable stadiums and followings. A Catalan ‘national’ side plays occasional friendlies at either the Camp Nou or Montjuïc, as do Ecuador, Argentina, Morocco and other countries with large immigrant communities in the city. Spain do not.

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