Thousands of fans took to the streets of Barcelona on Sunday to celebrate their club’s fifth UEFA Champions League win, decking the Catalan capital out with flags, shirts, scarves and confetti.
“Champions, second treble, we continue to write history” was the triumphant message written on the side of the coach ferrying Luis Suarez, who scored the decisive goal in the 3-1 defeat of Juventus, Lionel Messi and the rest of the team to the Camp Nou, where a crowd of 67,000 were awaiting them.
“The treble of 2009 was magic because it was the first, but to do it twice, that’s enormous,” fan Adrian Llamazares said referring to Saturday’s win in Berlin came after La Liga and Copa del Rey titles.
“I was confident from the start of the season,” chipped in Sara Marco, with her granddaughter enthusiastically waving a Catalan flag.
However, the 60-something grandmother was perhaps the only one to have had belief at the start of January when Barcelona suffered a major internal crisis, with frosty relations between coach Luis Enrique and Messi.
After that the Catalan giants pressed hard on the accelerator to become a winning machine after a 2013-2014 trophyless season had hinted at their decline.
“We were speaking of the end of a cycle, but the cycle is Messi, regardless of the manager and the rest of the players, Barcelona can always win,” 41-year-old David Blasco said.
With fans shouting out the name of their idols and tourists joining in the party atmosphere, the players made their smiling way to their iconic stadium, dancing and singing in the open-top bus.
“Where’s Messi?” a six-year-old boy asked his mother, Nuria Boada.
“In our house, our hero is Messi, because he’s the best in the world. He does incredible things, almost without blinking, but we also want to say goodbye to Xavi,” said 39-year-old Boada, in reference to the record-breaking Barcelona captain who is leaving the club to join Qatari side Al Sadd.
Xavi’s name, along with Messi, Suarez and the third member of the strike force, Neymar, were the names that rang out the most.
“As long as the three forwards score, Barcelona can play as they wish, and next season they will bring us back the sixth [European Cup],” 27-year-old Eduard Corcelles said.
Amid the celebrations it was announced that Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta is to miss Spain’s Euro 2016 qualifier in Belarus due to an injury.
Iniesta looked sharp in the Champions League final, but has been ruled out of a friendly with Costa Rica on Thursday, as well as the clash with Belarus on Sunday.
“Andres Iniesta will not be with the squad due to some problems he has had this week,” a statement said.
Spain, who have won the previous two European Championships, lie second in Group C with 12 points from five games, with Slovakia out in front on 15.
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