A chance to see Barca in action

Angus and his good friend Repe before the match

A few weeks ago, Angus was able to fulfil a football dream of sorts when we went to see FC Barcelona play in Cyprus. The occasion was a Champions League group stage match against Apoel, one of the leading teams in Cyprus. Despite the high ticket prices, the match was a sellout, and interestingly many of the fans had travelled from Lebanon, Jordan and other countries in the Middle East where Barcelona have a huge following.

The match itself was played on a freezing night with some fresh snow on the mountains in Cyprus (which the locals assured us was a good omen for Apoel). Alas this was not reflected in the final score!

The financial numbers behind a team like Barcelona are pretty staggering. Someone observed that the net worth of the Barcelona team far exceeds the value of the European bailout package provided to prop up the ailing Cypriot economy. Certainly the value of one of the Barcelona players such as Messi, Neymar or Suarez dwarfs the entire team budget of FC Apoel.

So it is not surprising that the match was a fairly one-sided affair, and despite holding Barcelona to a 1-0 victory in the first round when Apoel played them in Spain a few months ago, this match ended up 4-0 to Barcelona, and it could easily have been more. It was a delight to watch them play though, and the experience has no doubt further inspired Angus in his current football obsession!

The Apoel fans still managed a traditional Cyprus
welcome with flares!