FC Barcelona 0 Liverpool 0 - "Subbuteo football with Mes Que Un Club".

Take 2 and with a better angle to showcase the beautiful backdrop of Ironbridge on the banks of the River Severn, here's my personal story of achieving a childhood footballing dream of watching the Mighty Reds of Liverpool in FC Barcelona's famed home of the Camp Nou in the Semi-Final 1st Leg of 2001 UEFA Cup.

Here follows a brief extract from the chapter being read here together with a link for a book I'm immensely proud of and, if you are able, further links for ways and means of supporting me to thumb the eye of the traditional publishers who refused to read my original manuscript!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C6W6TYCL

https://www.patreon.com/TheBlackfordBookClub
https://www.paypal.me/TheBlackfordBookClub
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/steveblackford

"Looking back I wished, even then perhaps, that I should have foregone the beauty of Salou for the footballing beauty of the guided tours of Barcelona’s Camp Nou home. Over the years since I’ve seen so many accounts of how the tour is simply out of this world, but the Camp Nou is not going anywhere so never say never. La Sagrada Familia was everything I hoped for and another reason for a return trip to this magnificent city, but we duly boarded the early coaches for the transfer to the ground and I marvelled at the flags being waved from seemingly every window as the fleet of coaches guided us toward Barcelona’s very own Coliseum. It was early evening and some 3 hours before kick off but the din as we slowly approached the stadium was not of fervent Barca Ultras but of the local inhabitants! Flags waved from every conceivable window, horns blaring and a very definite “welcome” was laid out before us, and we were still some 180 minutes from a ball being kicked in anger.

As is custom for the away supporters on European nights such as these, the Authorities like to ensure the vast bulk of these visitors are safely in the ground hours before kick off and there we were, stationed at the very pinnacle of Camp Nou with the entirety of the city in our collective sights and after lumbering up an inordinate number of never ending staircases to get there. As is also custom and certainly so at Liverpool games, the seat allocated to you doesn’t exactly represent where you’ll end up sitting!

But no matter, I immediately headed for the very back row, donned the two Lacoste jumpers I’d purchased on La Ramblas earlier and was entirely vindicated in doing so. The day’s oppressive heat had been replaced by a very cold evening air and from our open position at the top of Barcelona’s very own Everest, it was a cold evening up there. But I was warmed by a dour, defensive display from the Reds in the all white, and the surreal table football game being played out a long, long way away, and regardless, a footballing dream had truly come true. The aforementioned defensive quartet of Henchoz, Hyypia, Babbel and Carragher snuffed out the best Barca could muster, and a Spanish side containing a future Reds goalkeeper in the shape of Pepe Reina and a Harlem Globetrotters style all star team of Marquee names such as Frank de Boer, Sergi, Puyol, Pep Guardiola, Luis Enrique, Marc Overmars, Patrick Kluivert and the dangerous Brazilian Rivaldo. With future captain Steven Gerrard swamping the midfield with Dietmar Hamann, the Reds snuffed out Barcelona all evening and whilst I don’t remember Liverpool posing any real attacking threat all night, neither really did Barcelona, and the game ended in a very pleasing stalemate at 0–0. This would mean a one game shoot out in effect to reach the Final in Germany, and a one game shoot out played out in the Reds home of Anfield".

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