FC Barcelona vs. Málaga: February 27, 2010

Ever since I have gotten to Barcelona, I have wanted to attend an FC Barca game. Being a huge sports fan, I have followed FC Barcelona for many years and I was finally going to have the opportunity to see them play at Camp Nou. This was also special because my father was in town visiting for the week so my friends and I went to the game with my dad. With my Sport and Culture class, we went on a tour of Camp Nou which was my first time at the stadium. It was incredible. I was amazed at how huge the stadium was. It is the largest stadium in Europe and holds over 98,000 people. We got to look at the visitor's locker room, the field, the media room, the trophy case, and finally the museum.

My second time to the stadium was going to be for the game which would be a completely new and different experience. My friends and I bought FC Barcelona jerseys specifically for the game. Each of us bought a different jersey. There was one Messi, one Henry, one Xavi, and one Ibrahimovic. About four hours before the game, me, my friends, and my father went for tapas and drinks in Plaza Catalunya. We ordered tons of tapas and they brought us a liter mug full of San Miguel. It was amazing. After a couple beers it was time to head to the game. We caught the metro at Catalunya and took it to Maria Cristina. The metro was packed. You could barely move with all of the people going to the game. Once getting off the metro you would see thousands and thousands of people walking to the stadium. People chanting "Barca, Barca!" I could already tell how much passion these fans had for FC Barca. Soccer here in Barcelona is like a religion. It is taken very seriously and Catalans take great pride in their team. After getting our tickets from the will call, it was time to enter Camp Nou and find our seats.

Not only were our seats incredible, we all got to sit together which we thought was going to be difficult since all 5 tickets were in different locations. The stadium slowly began to fill as kick off drew closer and closer. It was a beautiful night for a soccer game. The game started and FC Barca had control over the game immediately. Malaga barely touched the ball in the first half. Although neither team scored in the first half, the game was exciting watching Messi and Xavi dominate the field. They had several opportunities to score but they could not execute. Second half started and FC Barca started where they left off from the first half. With possession of the ball the majority of the game, Pedro finally scored a goal from about 17 feet out. It was a bullet. The fans went crazy. I have been to several big games in the United States, but this did not even compare. Throughout the game, the fans did many "Barca" chants along with a few songs that I did not know. Not long after, Malaga made a good play and scored a goal. The stadium went silent. Everyone was in shock. 3 minutes later in the 84th minute, Messi made an incredible play and scored the winning goal. FC Barcelona beat Malaga 2-1. What a game!