Madrid: For the first time since playing to an empty stadium in protest at a violent crackdown of an independence referendum in Catalonia, Barcelona’s Camp Nou opens its doors when Olympiakos visit on Wednesday.
On the field, Barca should have little problem sweeping aside an Olympiakos side without a point in the Champions League so far this season to consolidate their position atop Group D.
However, how Barca’s fans will react to a tumultuous few weeks of political tension in Catalonia is less predictable with the support split like the rest of society on the wealthy northeastern region of Spain.
Chants in favour of independence are common at the Camp Nou from a section of the Barca fanbase, most notably in the 17th minute to mark the fall of Catalonia in the Spanish War of Succession in 1714.
Barca have also been repeatedly fined by Uefa for fans flying the Catalan ‘Estelada’ flag, which has become a symbol of the independence movement within Catalonia, at Champions League matches.
Leading Barca players such as Gerard Pique and Andres Iniesta called for politicians on both sides of the independence debate to negotiate in the wake of the October 1 referendum.
As Spanish riot police fired rubber bullets and seized ballot papers leaving 92 injured, among nearly 900 who sought medical attention that day, Barca beat Las Palmas 3-0 behind closed doors.
Yet, players have been less keen to position themselves on the confused political fallout in the past few weeks.
“What we like is playing and enjoying ourselves in a spectacular atmosphere like today,” said Iniesta after Barca’s 1-1 draw at Atletico Madrid on Saturday.
Barca’s first visit to the capital since the escalation of the political divide was expected to provoke a hostile welcome for the visitors.
However, other than the waving of more Spanish flags than normal at Atletico matches and some jeers for Pique, the match passed off peacefully.
“It was a great game, in a great atmosphere, in a great stadium,” said Barca coach Ernesto Valverde.
Despite a series of distractions on and off the field, including the loss of Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain, Barca have started impressively under Valverde.
The former Athletic Bilbao coach replaced Luis Enrique during the close season and goalkeeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen has backed his new manager’s approach.
“Our manager has a different point of view and we have to support him,” Ter Stegen said in an interview with Uefa. “We have to assure him that we understand his concepts because he has new, different ideas.
“He’s also introducing more options to our game, which makes you become an even better player because you’re learning new things. Our job is to put these changes into action and I have to say that we’ve done quite well until now.”
Valverde won three league titles with Olympiakos, who have never won in 14 previous visits to Spain.
He will almost certainly use the match as an opportunity to rest some players ahead of the league match against Malaga at the weekend.
Lionel Messi, however, should still lead the attack with Luis Suarez, but other players such as Pique or Ivan Rakitic could start the game on the bench.
Valverde could also consider giving winger Gerard Deulofeu a place in the starting XI.
