Great evening last night aboard Bar & Co, the superb Latino bar on the Thames were Barca’s UK based fans –British, Catalans, other Spaniards and even an American from Washington DC-gathered to share a meal, a few beers, and a large cake emblazoned with the club colours between singing, exchanging old campaign stories- from Valencia to Rome via Manchester-, and celebrating a video showing the historic 5-0 victory over Real Madrid at the Nou Camp earlier in the season. Among the new members of our UK fan club , and last night present dressed in club colours, was a recently born babe, brought there by his parents Rodrigo and Anna, the hugely energetic and genial organisers of the party, and the fan club, the best Barca has in the world. This traditional feast on the eve of a fixture with a London club has become a high pint of my social calendar. May it long remain so.
It’s also hugely pleasing to see the extraordinary coverage which British papers have given the club in the last few days, ranging from a huge spread in the SUN on the club’s youth policy and school for future stars to long profiles in broadsheets on Pep Guardiola and Xavi, whose leadership has ensured not just two dream teams in modern history, but two.
Whatever happens tonight in the game against Arsenal- and I cannot wait to take my seat with fellow cules at the Emirates-this is a club and a team that has won worldwide respect and admiration, and deservedly so, for bringing the word beautiful back into the game, and winning trophies with it. I am looking forward, God willing, to seeing Barca back at Wembley in the Spring, preferably against an English team.
