BILBAO, Spain — A city usually decorated in the classic red and white of Athletic Club was, for a day or two, submerged by a sea of blaugrana. Every shop, bar and market stall displays the Athletic crest (you can even buy Athletic-themed crisps), so seeing the normally prominent blue and white crest outnumbered by another was a sight to behold. while more than 40,000 Barcelona fans descended on the stadium. Basque Country for the 2024 UEFA Women's Champions League final against Lyon and converted the San Mamés stadium into the Camp Nou.
On Friday afternoon there was an eerie silence in Bilbao; An air of anticipation enveloped the city as preparations for the big game began. There were posters promoting the final covering the promenade along the bank of the Nervión, while the nearby streets were decorated with the UEFA emblem with “Bilbao 2024” above them. Some Barcelona fans began venturing into the city on Friday night, but it was the calm before the storm.
That all changed on Saturday. An influx of supporters wearing the iconic Catalan crest entered the northern Spanish city in the morning, and you could be forgiven for thinking you've been transported 290 miles across Spain and woken up in Barcelona.
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Crowds of Barcelona coaches lined the streets surrounding the San Mames stadium as fans of all ages flocked west to support their team. Walking the 30 minutes from the edge of the old town to the stadium, six hours before kick-off, the bustle was already electric. Locals stopped some Barcelona fans to wish the team well, surprising given how deep-rooted Bilbao's love for their home club is.
As you wandered the colorful streets of Vizcaya, venturing further towards the ground, it was a sea of iconic Catalan colours. The cars waved Barça flags out of the windows; The cafes were packed to the brim and the smell of freshly brewed Spanish lattes filled the air.
A family with two young children wearing Alexia Putellas t-shirts set out early at 11.30am to explore the city, having arrived by car from Barcelona the night before the final. Another family of eight, dressed in “Aitana” T-shirts, had rented a minivan to make the five-hour trip. On a busy tram, an older couple who had traveled from California to see the match told me how excited they were to experience their first Champions League final between two European giants. But they were not Barcelona fans, nor even Lyon fans; It was Chelsea fans who booked the trip in the hope that Emma Hayes' Blues would reach the final.
Crammed into the small tram cars heading north, Barcelona fans sang and chanted the club's anthem at the top of their lungs. In the last three Champions League finals, the blaugrana Supporters have far outnumbered opposition support. But it hasn't always been like this.
Five years ago, Lyon and Barcelona met for the first time in a UWCL final, there were many Culers in Budapest but the stands were not full, today Bilbao has been invaded by blue and red, and the 600 km to the capital of Catalonia never seemed so short https://t.co/gr1PTbdMtn
—Sophie Lawson (@lawson_sv) May 25, 2024
In previous years, despite having the opportunity to watch some of the biggest games of the season, Barça fans had rarely made the trip to support their women's team away from home. However, following the COVID-19 pandemic, the club saw an increase in its traveling support and many have since paraded to the stadiums to support their team in four consecutive finals.
In 2021 and 2023, Barcelona beat Chelsea and Wolfsburg. But in the 2019 and 2022 finals, fans had to watch Lyon emerge as the better team. No team has won the competition so many times (8); They have participated in 11 Champions League finals since 2010. Barcelona has never beaten them and, on both occasions in the final, Lyon destroyed their opponents with an early flurry of goals. Their incredibly talented team has a lot of experience winning; It's what motivates them, as veteran defender Wendie Renard said in a press conference the day before the game.
But on the way to San Mamés, Sofía, dressed in a Patri Guijarro shirt, tells me that winning the Champions League this season would prove that Barcelona is now the best team in the world, regardless of Lyon's rich history.
Only once inside the 53,000-capacity stadium does the magnitude of Barcelona's traveling contingent become evident. A small sector of Lyon fans (the OL Angeles) gather behind a goal and, to the left, another section of white shirts appears. The rest is a sea of blaugrana.
Even though Lyon has had so much success in recent years and the French women's team ranked as the second best in the world, the club's fan base has yet to grow. After France hosted the 2019 Women's World Cup, the game's profile grew, but nothing compared to how England were trapped after Euro 2022.
For Lyon coach Sonia Bompastor, the growth of Barça fans is something to be inspired by. “They have a lot of fans in the stadiums,” she said at a pre-match news conference. “At this moment of dynamics, it is very positive and we have to see it for the other clubs, not just for Lyon. We need to be inspired by that.”
But Lyon's players would have found it difficult to get inspired when they took to the field to warm up. The roars of a stadium half filled with Barcelona players gave you goosebumps; The boos of Lyon drowned out the cheers. The flags were flying, the drums were playing the Barcelona song and you felt like you were in a mini-Camp Nou.
When the opening whistle blew, the cheers went up a notch. And they didn't stop all afternoon. When the Barça fans thought they had fouled Mariona Caldentey in the 59th minute, cries of dismay echoed through the stadium. When Aitana Bonmatí, Barça's golden girl, scored with a deflected shot in the 53rd minute, the stadium erupted. There were tears, ecstatic celebrations, roars of joy.
Lyon tried, but couldn't find a way to back up against the wall of noise. When the official attendance was announced, it was a record for the Women's Champions League final (50,827), and the majority were Barcelona fans.
When Putellas, dubbed the “Queen of Barcelona” by teammate Lucy Bronze, scored just three minutes after being substituted in the 93rd minute to seal a 2-0 victory, the goal was greeted with thunderous cheers. Copying USWNT international Brandi Chastain's iconic celebration from the 1999 World Cup, Putellas took off her shirt before waving it over her head and soaking up the adulation of her subjects.
Then the party could really begin. With their Lyon demons banished and the Champions League trophy hoisted in the air, confetti fell. The fans did not stop celebrating until dawn.
For years, Lyon dominated Barcelona. Now we enter a new era. With such a dedicated fan base hungry for success, it will be a mammoth task for any team to compete with that. Let's move towards Lisbon 2025.
