Treble-winners Barcelona finally met their match on the
streets of their home city as up to a million fans flocked to
welcome them home from their Champions League final triumph on
Thursday.
The Catalans have outplayed all comers to win La Liga,
Copa Del Rey and now the Champions League, but they struggled to
make their way through the crowds to the Nou Camp to complete their
celebrations.
Having beaten Manchester United 2-0 in Rome on Wednesday, the
squad flew back to Barcelona on Thursday afternoon and it was coach
Pep Guardiola and captain Carles Puyol who carried the European Cup
down the steps from the plane.
They boarded an open-top bus and with the trophies propped up
inside the front windscreen, set off for a journey that would take
over three hours. A second bus drove behind pumping out music.
Up to a million fans thronged the streets to greet them.
The players, who all wore blue shirts emblazoned with "Cup,
League and Champions", danced, sang songs, waved flags and sprayed
drinks over the fans.
The club threw open the doors of the Nou Camp and a capacity
98,000 crowd had to wait for over an hour past the scheduled
arrival time for the team to make their entrance and kick off the
evening's festivities.
After the final on Wednesday night, around 100,000 fans
celebrated in the centre of Barcelona, but events turned ugly later
on.
Local police told Spanish media they had detained 119 people
mainly for public disorder offences and causing damage. Medical
services dealt with injuries to 153 people, with 23 needing
hospital treatment.
