The advance guard has arrived; plenty of Bhoys and Ghirls around the city, plenty of San Miguel consumed.
The weather is fairly sunny, but with a chilly wind at times. The temperature is around 15 degrees. As always, the wind fails to prevent drunken Celtic fans wearing nothing but shorts!
Called at the Nou Camp today, taxi was around 8 Euros from Las Ramblas. Nou Camp doesn´t look too big from the outside but upon entering the stadium, the sheer size of the place certainly shocked me. It looks quite tatty and dated but very impressive all the same.
The FC Barcelona Ticket Office has signs up saying tickets are sold out. A friend claimed today that the tickets are nowhere near sold out and the ticket office use this tactic to avoid all tickets being snapped up by touts. The rumours are that tickets will go on general sale tomorrow, so it is certainly worth popping over to try your luck.
There are around 20 ticket touts hanging around outside the ground at Gate 14, and at Barcelona airport. They are looking for around 180 Euros per ticket, but are likely to drop prices tomorrow. Beware of fake tickets!
Barcelona is a massive city, and Celtic fans have yet to congregate in the one place. The main square (Square de Catalan) at the top of Las Ramblas is likely to be jumping tomorrow, but there are so many places to choose from, and it will be difficult to get it going.
Dissapointingly, Flaherty´s Bar looks rather lively. Again, I urge Celtic fans to stay away from this conman, who over-charges Celtic supporters for drink and tickets. Even more cringeworthy is the Daily Record banners hanging from the roofs of the bar! It looks like they are trying to keep us away!
Off to sample Barcelona´s finest tapas, here´s hoping for a good result tomorrow!
Hail Hail!