Catalan Cup final showcases another side of football in Barcelona

Finalists Barcelona are understandably happy, with 84% of their fans approving. Fans of their opponents, Athletic Bilbao, are less satisfied. At least Camp Nou’s huge capacity means both clubs will receive 39,000 tickets, with a further 20,000 for the Spanish FA. With an AC/DC concert in front of 50,000 at the Olympic Stadium and the Primavera music festival with a similar number expected, Barcelona will be very busy that weekend.

It will be the second cup final to be staged in Barcelona this year. On Wednesday evening, the Catalan Cup final was held in the Barcelona town of Gracia between local side Europa and second division high fliers Girona. The B teams of Barça and Espanyol were eliminated en route.

Barça and Espanyol had contested eight of the last 11 finals, with Xavi, Cesc Fabregas, Gerard Pique, Alexis Sanchez and David Villa all playing in the 2013 final. This season, the first teams of the big two decided to play a one-off game once a season and the field their reserve sides in the longstanding Catalan Cup.

Never describe Gracia, with it’s bohemian vibe and anarchist squat, just a mile north of the centre of Barcelona, as a neighbourhood or barrio. Locals insist it is a separate town, even though it was long swallowed up by Barcelona’s expansion. It retains is own character, though, with tight streets and an independent attitude.

A walk up to the Nou Sardenya stadium confirmed the sentiment. Fans of third division (the regional fourth tier) Europa wore the distinctive blue ‘v’ on their white shirts as they let off flares, played trumpets, banged drums and sang about Barcelona being great, but Gracia being even better. Their website long announced that they were proud to be Gracians, Catalans and Europeans (note, not Spanish),

Fans were buzzing and the queue outside the turnstiles to stand on the open three sides of the 6,000-capacity ground snaked over 100 metres behind the main stand.

They would soon pay their tributes to the 150 lives lost in Tuesday’s air crash, which took off from Barcelona and included scores of Catalans. The Catalan national anthem was also sung proudly and Catalan flags, including ones advocating independence, hung all around the stadium and from the windows of the 16-storey tower blocks which overlook the artificial pitch.

Founded in 1907, CE Europa were one of the 10 founder teams of the Primera Liga in 1928 alongside Barca, Espanyol, Real Madrid, Racing Santander, Atletico Madrid and four teams from the Basque country: Real Union, Arenas Getxo, Real Sociedad and Athletic Bilbao. In the 1920s, managed by an Englishman Ralph Kirkby, Europa were the second strongest team in Catalonia after Barça. Kirby later became Barça and Athletic Bilbao coach. Europa only lasted three seasons in the top flight and despite Kirby returning in 1930, they finished bottom, were relegated and merged with another club.

Europa have had their moments, notably in 1997 and 1998 when they won the Copa Catalunya, twice beating Barça in the final. Then in the fifth tier, they beat Bobby Robson’s team containing Hristo Stoichkov in ’97 and overcame a side starring Ivan de la Pena, Michael Reiziger, Sergi and Fernando Couto to win the cup a year later.

Wednesday saw them back in the Copa Catalunya final with a crowd of 3,140 well up on the 600 which the semi-professional side now attract to home games.

The real strength of the club, like many in Spain, is the number of footballers on their books. Over 1,400 players from six years to open age use the facilities at their two stadiums to train every day of the week. All the players are taught to play the same way and Roman Golobart, who played in the Premier League at Wigan, started out at Europa.

Many of the youth players were in the crowd on Wednesday, alongside the older timers who go to every game, plus the leftist politicians, fans with an anti-fascist flag and gypsies. Gracia has a longstanding gypsy community and Europa had a gypsy player last season.

“We supported him, he loved it here and we had a gypsy flag,” explains a fan who hands out copies of L’Escapvlat, the monthly Europa newspaper, on the terraces.

“We print 2,000 but we’ll print more if we win tonight,” he explains of the eight-page newspaper funded by local advertisers. Smoke from cigars, cigarettes and cannabis punctures the cold March air. Admission costs €10 for adults and families mix with young fans. A supporter of Hamburg side St Pauli is part of this alternative mix.

“Some of our fans also like Barça, some Espanyol,” explains the newspaper distributor. “But Europa comes first for all of us.”

Their team didn’t let them down against a side pushing for promotion to La Liga for the first time. They take the lead after 16 minutes through Albert, brother of Espanyol manager Sergio, and go 2-0 up after 63. A third Copa Catalunya is imminent but a 75th minute Girona goal makes for a nervy last 15 minutes. Europa hold on for their sixth victory in the FA Cup for Catalonia.

FC Barcelona may dominate Catalan football and the city felt like the centre of the football world last week with two crowds of 92,000 and 98,600 for their wins against Manchester City and Real Madrid, but there’s plenty of football and hundreds of technically gifted Catalan players who thrive away from Camp Nou.

Europa are enjoying their success and have ambitions to reach Spain’s second division for the first time since 1968. First, though, they need to reach the Second B league for the first time since 1995 – though their travel costs would increase significantly with trips to Mallorca and several south to Valencia.

That’s why they’ve been happy in the third division, where they’ve spent 51 of their 86 seasons. But today, they’re more than happy to have their hands on their third Catalan Cup.