FC BARCELONA (Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys)

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP STAGE, FC BARCELONA 2-1 SHAKHTAR DONETSK, ATTENDANCE: 41,409

Tonight I took the opportunity to head to Catalonia to pay a visit to a ground that, until this season, has been very rarely used for football since 2009.

Camp Nou, the iconic home of FC Barcelona, is being renovated so, for season 2023/24, Barca are playing their home games at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys. From 1997 to 2009 the stadium was home to city rivals Espanyol, before they moved to a purpose built stadium of their own. 

Ironically it was because of the previous tennants of this ground that tickets were easy to come by as many Barcelona supporters are supposedly boycotting games because they refuse to set foot in a ground that was once home to their bitter rivals. Indeed tonight was not a sell out and tickets were readily available to purchase at the ticket offices.

The stadium, originally known as Estadi de Montjuic, was built in 1929 for the World Exhibition and was also to be used as the main stadium for Spain's (unsuccessful) bid for the 1936 Olympic games. The stadium fell into a state of disrepair however when, in 1987, Barcelona were finally awarded the summer games for 1992, it was completely gutted, renovated and expanded, with just the original facade remaining.

The centrepiece of the 1992 Olympic games it was where Linford Christie (100 metres) and Sally Gunnell (400 metres) triumphed to win gold for Great Britain and also, famously, where Derek Redmond was helped around the track by his father after pulling up with a torn hamstring in the 400 metres semi-final.

Post Olympic games the stadium the stadium was used for both soccer and American football but has been has used sporadically since Espanyol left in 2009. In 2002 the stadium was renamed Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys after the president of the Catalan government during the Spanish Civil War, who was executed at the nearby Montjuïc Castle in 1940.

This evening Barcelona were hosting Shakhtar Donetsk in the group stages of the Champions League.

After finally finding my seat in the ground, as none of them appear to be numbered, I sat down to watch Barça consolidated their position at the top of Group H with a third win in three, almost ensuring qualification to the knockout stages, thanks to a 2-1 victory over their Ukrainian opponents.

Barca were in complete control of the game and had more than enough chances to win comfortably but almost threw it away towards the end, when the visitors nearly snatched an unlikely draw.

Barcelona's Goals came from Ferran Torres (28) and Fermin Lopez (36) with Georgly Sudakov (62) replying for Shakhtar.

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Prior to the big game in the evening, the equivalent youth game took place in the afternoon. The game was played at the Estadi Johan Cruyff, named in honour of the legendary player and coach, where around 600 spectators gathered to watch goals from Noah Darvich (15) and Juan Hernandez (85) ensure victory for the Barça youngsters.