At the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona celebrated, without a great epic, but with great Barcelonaism, its 125th anniversary. On stage, in the seats of the audience, a club celebrating its history, with, a priori, the same strength and feeling as always, but with specific and different circumstances. A romantic memory party with a touch of humor. A party dedicated to the past, but without great emblems, and notable absences. The photograph of Joan Laporta at the Liceu did not have the physical presence of Leo Messi, in Miami, nor of Pep Guardiola, in the midst of the crisis with Manchester City. The president, celebrating the past, embraced the future, La Masia, with Lamine Yamal as the main figure.
A party, also, in a difficult economic time, and without the Camp Nou as a home before the exodus to the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys. But that didn’t matter at the Liceu. There was room to shout loudly for Barcelona fans. “Today is a very emotional and historic day, to be proud of. “It is a day for a club that is more than a club,” Laporta said in his speech lasting more than 20 minutes, in which he made reference to l’escut to the pit (the shield on the chest). He didn’t need papers, he didn’t need a script.
The audience, the fans, listened attentively in a parliament of remembrance of history flooded with Barcelona’s faith. He could not, either, hide his emotion.
In the heart of Barcelona, on Las Ramblas, the Liceu dressed up with the blaugrana colors illuminating its façade. Fans crowded the outskirts, leaning on the black fences and climbing on the lampposts, hoping to see some of their idols, who got out of the cars or the bus to walk along the red carpet. Laporta came up to say hello. Also Alexia Putellas, the star of the women’s team in the absence of Aitana Bonmatí, who was playing her match with the Spanish team against South Korea, where she was once again the protagonist with her game and with a goal.
The players dressed in matching suits from the brand that the club sponsored, Herno, with a club pin on their lapels. Some of the around 2,000 guests paraded along the red carpet inside the theater. The four former presidents – Joan Gaspart, Enric Reyna, Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu – were present; also members of the Dream Team, former coaches and former players like Gerard Piqué, or politicians like Jordi Pujol, Artur Mas, Joaquim Torra and Pere Aragonès. The mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, was there, but not Salvador Illa, president of the Generalitat.
The gala began – ten minutes late, with some empty seats before the start – with a theatrical performance in which they invoked the club’s founder, Joan Gamper, to review the beginnings and desires of Barcelona, and who gave the floor to Laporta. The president took up his witness: “They were visionaries.” “Barcelona makes dreams come true. The collective dream is to have a stadium for more than 100,000 people, and when we finish it in 2026 it will be the best of all,” his parliament began.
A speech in which he recalled the history and achievements of Barcelona from November 29, 1899 to the present day through the names of the time, and which aroused applause in the theater audience for Ronald Koeman, Hristo Stoichkov, Deco, Jordi Cruyff and Frank Rijkaard, all present at the gala. And although Messi was not there, Laporta wanted to remember him. “The best player in history, and the most decisive for Barça: Leo Messi,” said the president. Before the gala Messi, distanced from Laporta, but not from the club, wanted to send a message to the fans. “It is an honor to be part of the club and a Barcelona fan. I was lucky that God brought me to this place. “I really miss the club, the city, the people, the love…” he said in a compilation video with those who could not attend: Iniesta, Luis Suárez, Carles Puyol, Neymar and Ronaldinho, among others.
Despite the absence of these great figures, before Messi’s fragment, the public broke protocol and the audience began to chant his name in a very emotional moment.
Laporta continued with his Barcelona speeches, thanking the Board of Directors, the club’s workers, the media and the sections present in the audience. Among them, the women’s soccer team. 10 years ago they weren’t even professional. From a residual space to being the only section with benefits, between prizes and prizes.
The captain of the Barça club, Alexia Putellas, the Queen, the personification of the team’s successes, appeared on stage. “The Ballon d’Ors are very good, but I prefer the titles we have won recently. It’s a privilege. We know where we are and this year we will try again. We want to continue giving joy to the fans,” she said before a congratulatory video from Aitana Bonmatí, Salma Paralluelo and Graham Hansen, the all-Barça podium at the Ballon d’Or gala. “We are football,” the captain shared minutes before. Barça One, official club media.
Between comedy gags and imitations, the Barça Foundation and the Genuine team were remembered, but without finishing; The songs for the anniversary were presented and the one chosen by the fans was known, L’escut to the pitthe most similar to the chants of the fans in the stadium; and the team’s mascot, Cat, a cat with the face of the Barça shield created by the Grangel brothers, was presented, along with Lamine Yamal and Gavi, being recorded by their teammates while laughing.
Laporta went up with them—once again—to capture the night with a selfie from the stage towards the theater. And when everyone was wondering where the announced – and expected – Pep Guardiola video was, his image appeared on a black background while Manel sang Aniversari in his brief appearance.
The night ended with Joan Dausà singing the hymn on the piano, and paying tribute to the sections with Juan Carlos Navarro, Enric Masip, Jordi Torras and Gaby Cairo.
After two hours of action, Hansi Flick looked at the clock. Laporta, on stage, called for the first team players, but they were no longer there. The candles were blown out after the video of the FIFA president. And everything ended as it began. An emotional and heartfelt short film with what the Barça club most represents, and desires, throughout its history: the ball.
