Catalan newspaper Mundo Deportivo once again go over Pep Guardiola’s fan worries in their Friday edition, having covered the topic on Thursday too.
The Barcelona based, and Barcelona mad, newspaper know Guardiola incredibly well, having followed the Catalan footballer throughout his career as a player, his time with Barca B, and then with the club’s stellar first team.
Therefore they get how and why Guardiola has been left ‘somewhat disappointed’ by Manchester City fans this week. It would be a lie to say the Camp Nou is always full, but Guardiola knows that for the club’s biggest matches the fans pack in.
The special dynamic of Barcelona and Més que un club lends itself to support, with a them against us attitude toward Madrid and the influence that Barca fans think comes from there.
Guardiola himself is a proud Catalan, so he bought into all of that hugely. This week at the Camp Nou, fans were taking part in their own battle against UEFA by holding aloft the Estelada.
The Estelada is a protest Catalan flag to signify the battle for Catalan independence. It is different from the Catalan Senyera, which doesn’t have a star and is simply stripes.
Whilst UEFA are fine with the Senyera being flown during Champions League games, they are unhappy with the Estelada because it’s seen as a political protest. UEFA don’t want their showpiece football matches to become a vehicle for political unrest, which can start with something as relatively harmless as the Estelada but become more serious in a different region.
Barcelona provided the flags for their fans to wave, and the atmosphere was special. They were always likely to stamp all over Celtic, but the 7-0 was mightily impressive.
The following night Guardiola saw a nowhere near full Etihad, and heard the Manchester City protest against UEFA and how that manifested itself, so it’s understandable he’d compare the two in his head.
Just like Pep Guardiola would expect a reaction from his players to a public request for more, so he will from the supporters.
