COPA DEL REY
Barbastro dreaming of Copa giant killing as FC Barcelona come to town
The biggest day in the club’s 90 year history is looming and the town of 16,000 inhabitants in Huesca are dreaming of making the headlines as they face Barça.
On Friday, December 22, the traditional pre-Christmas ‘El Godo’ (the big one) lottery was held. This is normally big national news but on the same day UD Barbastro began the sales process for their Round of 32 Copa del Rey clash against FC Barcelona. Getting a match ticket was the talking point of the day in the town as the snaking queue with patient fans formed outside the club’s Paseo del Coso headquarters.
Nobody wants to miss the game against Barça. “We have already won the lottery. For the town of Barbastro, FC Barcelona coming here is historic,” a club member tells AS just after proudly showing off his match ticket for the now sold-out match.
The 2A RFEF (fourth tier of Spanish football) have already beaten LaLiga side Almería in the second round and being one of the lower ranked sides still in the competition were guaranteed to secure a draw against one of the four clubs participating in the Spanish Super Cup (Barça, Osasuna, Atletico and Real Madrid) and with many hoping for a visit of Los Blancos, the vast majority of fans wanted a match-up against the Catalan giants.
Barbastro having been working tirelessly for the biggest game in the club’s 90 year history bringing in supplementary seating that will see the traditional 3,000 capacity being doubled to allow 6,000 fans witness the Copa clash and the club also having to ensure that the required Spanish FA protocol relating to improved illumination and media facilities are also catered for.
The club also looked to avail of the visit of Xavi’s men to boost season ticket numbers with new sign-ups being made available for 100 euro with the fee also including a ticket for the Copa del Rey game on Sunday. The campaign has been a success as the club’s season ticket holders have risen from the previous 440 members to 1,244. “People from outside Barbastro have become members,” Guillermo, the club’s director, tells us, who also tells us that they have had to hire a temporary press officer to handle all the requests that the Huesca based side have received in recent weeks.
While showing us the pitch, he jokes about the state of the grass and that Xavi won’t be able to complain because it is in perfect condition. “On this pitch, Barça will suffer as we are like a rocket. The team are playing really well right now,” says Guillermo, who semi-jokingly hopes that the notorious Barbastro fog will appear on game day. “This area of Huesca can get very foggy in the winter and this could help us.”
Win, lose or draw, 7 January 7 (2024) will go down as a memorable day in the history of the town of 16,000 inhabitants and especially in the history books of UD Barbastro.