Celtic Games – UEFA Cup 2004
Barcelona 0-0 Celtic
You’ll Never Drink Alone
26/03/04
Mundo Deportivo (Spanish Sports Paper)
The Celtic fans filled the bars and terraces throughout the day ignoring rain, and drinking beer until the early hours of the morning.
More than 20,000 Scots invaded the streets of Barcelona yesterday.
The tide of the “verdiblancos” fans were present throughout the day in all parts of the city. The outside area of the Camp Nou and Las Ramblas both became points with huge gatherings of the Celtic fans.
At this moment they were searchigh for tickets and were willing to pay up to €300.
In downtown the Scots demonstrated that they are a noisy but non-violent group.
They filled the bars and terraces, they consumed litres of beer without stopping and sang like crazy people, but almost always civilised and peacefully.
On the balconies of many inns and hotels of the city they hung scarves of Celtic and Ireland flags.
As the hour approached, the Scots were taking position near the Camp Nou.
The “verdiblancos” took over the bars of Travessera and Corts, and the Scots continued filling up with Alcohol.
Therefore, it is best understood how they braved the rain storm that fell yesterday in the evening in Barcelona in short sleeves and many cases with the national dress (kilt) of the country.
If the “You`ll never walk alone” is the official anthem of the club, the one of the alcohol-indulging could be “You’ll never drink alone”.
The five thousand followers who had bought their tickets in Glasgow were the first to enter the stadium for security reasons.
They were located in the highest tiers, and they never stopped singing after they arrived, but it was clear that the ticket search worked, as in all corners of the Camp Nou small groups of Celtic fans appeared who had managed to acquire a ticket in the last hour.
The Scottish press calculated that there could have been about 5000 more followers in the stadium.
Barca played “You’ll never walk alone”, but much too soon and the version was not the classic one. Despite this, the Scots were grateful of the gesture, and they sang with the green and white scarves held up. Later they repeated it, by themselves with no amplification, at the start of the second half.
As the minutes passed, and they saw the quarter-finals looming, they sang and cheered more than ever. The final minutes of the game were a celebration for the thousands of Scots who finished taking over the Camp Nou. After Domenico Messina whistled for the end of the game, the stands of the stadium became a “celebration verdiblanco”. The celebration continued into the night, again in the centre of town, until dawn.