Found this old ticket that I’d been using as a bookmark and it brought back memories.
I’d been visiting friends Steve and Liz in Spain and Steve & I tried to get tickets for the match. I remember Bobby Robson saying that he’d seen all the big derbies – Glasgow/Celtic, Tottenham/Arsenal and Boca Juniors/River Plate but that none compared to Barcelona v Real Madrid. We paid a whopping £100 per ticket to a tout (Steve – I’m finally shopping you to Liz) and headed in. And it was truly mad. People were in our seats, but no-one sat anyway and once they heard I’d come from England for this match, I was hugged like a long lost brother. The capacity of the Nou Camp was about 120,000 and only 500 fearless Madrid fans made it in. They were barracked mercilessly throughout. The experience was indeed extraordinary – flares, thrown coins and real animation. The game itself was decided by a Barcelona penalty. Not the most exciting goal, but it was scored by Ronaldo.