Chelsea receives FC Barcelona in Catalan
The nearly 3,000 Barça fans that will make it to Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge on Wednesday to watch the Champions League semi-finals will be greeted in Catalan by the local team. FC Barcelona has Catalan as its first language, and the club has traditionally felt very much attached to Catalan society and culture.
London (FCB).- Barça fans that make it to Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge on Wednesday to watch the first leg of the Champions League semi-final will be received in Catalan. The doors that give access to the stadium reserved for FC Barcelona members and Barça supporters will be greeted by a banner written in Catalan language. It will read ‘Visitants Catalans’ (Catalan visitors). Announcements made over the stadium’s PA system will also be in Catalan. FC Barcelona has Catalan as its first language. In fact, when Catalan was forbidden during Franco times, Barça board coined the motto “more than a club” to define FC Barcelona and the club’s attachment to the Catalan identity as well as to democratic values. This motto is still used, and FC Barcelona has emphasised its attachment to universal values such as respect, diversity, effort and fair-play.
FC Barcelona also receives fans from opposing teams in the Champions League at the Camp Nou in similar fashion. The doors 46, 50, 51 and 52 of the Catalan stadium, reserved for visiting fans, greet the opposing team’s supporters with banners in their native language.