The Camp Nou had never seen anything like it. This cavernous amphitheatre, normally chock full of 90,000 supporters, had barely a few hundred people in it.

Thanks to the game being scheduled on the same day as the Catalan independence referendum, and with the Spanish police in the region with a directive to stop anyone voting, it was a day that was always going to end in tears.

That no one knew whether Barcelona’s game against Las Palmas would actually go ahead right up until about 30 minutes before kick-off suggests just how close the hosts were to taking what would have been a six-point penalty on the chin, in order to stand up for what they believe in.

Some players from Barcelona made clear that they did not want to play, but after discussions with the club’s board the decision was made to fulfil the fixture. With a “crowd” made up of both teams, coaching staff, club staff, ball boys and reporters, Camp Nou retained an eerie silence.

You could hear every word and every kick of the ball. With thousands locked outside, it would’ve been entirely understandable if Barca didn’t have their minds fully focused on the job in hand. In fact, for the first 45 minutes, though they had the upper hand, the Catalans looked anything but the fluid machine of the past few weeks.

To their immense credit, an excellent second-half performance saw them home, thanks to Sergio Busquets’ first league goal in three years and a double for Lionel Messi, bringing his total for the season to 11 already. The game was also noticeable for it being Barcelona’s 1,000th clean sheet in La Liga. No other team comes close to that record.

Gerard Pique, one of Ernesto Valverde’s staff to voice his preference to have the game suspended, was tearful in the mixed zone afterwards, bringing home just how emotive a subject independence remains for many Catalans. A football match had just been played and yet it seemed secondary to all that had gone before it.

Games behind closed doors are nothing new of course, though they’re generally given as a punishment by the authorities. It was a brave decision in the end by Barca’s board to get the game on, by hook or by crook.

The ramifications of the same will be felt for a while yet too, and after a perfect start to the 2017/18 campaign with nine wins out of nine in all competitions, Valverde’s biggest challenge — that of not allowing outside distractions to affect his team — is seemingly yet to come.

— The author is an expert on Spanish football