FCBARCELONA.CAT

14.04.2008 13:34

Two exciting games in the Camp Nou

Roger Bogunyà

The end of the season brings exciting matches. The derby with Espanyol and the semi-final with United are two encounters the fans have been looking forward to all season, and both will be played out at the Camp Nou in the course of the next 9 days.

There haven’t been two such important matches in the Camp Nou since the start of the season, when in the space of ten days Olympique de Lyon (first Champions League game), Seville and Zaragoza were the visitors. Now however the games are even more massive, with a local derby with six games to go in the League and a Champions League semi-final.

The two sides of football

Derby matches like next Saturday’s are always exciting affairs. In the last two Barça experienced the two sides of football. Two years ago they celebrated their League championship, including being applauded onto the field by the Espanyol players, with a clear 2-0 win. That was just 11 days before they took on and beat Arsenal in the Champions League Final at Saint-Denis.

In the 2007-08 season the story was very different. Barça was ahead 2-1 just before the end and that result would have made them League leaders with one game to go. A goal by Tamudo right at the death practically killed off all Barça’s hopes of winning the title. So both sides of the game in the last two derbies, matches which in any case are packed with tension and rivalry. Plus Espanyol are determined to win in the Camp Nou for the first time in 24 seasons.

The last night of semi-finals

But the main event will be on Wednesday on St George’s Day with the first leg of the semi-finals of the Champions League. The last time a game of this importance was played was two years ago when Milan were the visitors to the Camp Nou in the return leg of the semi-finals. That night the game finished 0-0 which meant Frank Rijkaard’s side went on to the final in Paris.

Other great European nights at the Camp Nou

There were some other fantastic European clashes that season. The games with Chelsea and Benfica were nights of suffering and glory which everyone still remembers even two years later. In spite of the negative result the Camp Nou was packed once again a year ago for the visit of Liverpool in the first leg of the last 16 in the Champions League. It was the last occasion on which an English side has come to Barcelona.