Spanish fans set the standard
Finals are rarely great matches, although Wednesday night's was one of the better ones.
It had promised to be very good until the sending off of Moises Hurtado for a caused Espanyol to play for penalties. They discovered that doing so for nearly an hour is not easy.
It was the most blatant example of such tactics since . It seemed they had failed where Bucharest succeeded when Frederic Kanoute gave Seville the lead in extra-time, but somehow Espanyol equalised and took the game to the
What made this final memorable was that it lived up to the purpose of these competitions - bringing Europe together through football. The , after all, is the foster child of the .
So Wednesday's game brought the great and good together. Who should be on the high balcony overlooking the ground but Scotland's newly-elected First Minister , standing next to Uefa president , and sharing a joke or two. Salmond had clearly wasted no time in getting himself a spot in the VIP area.
What was even more striking were the scenes on the streets of Glasgow. This showed how the supporters of two teams from the same country can come together in a foreign city and produce not hatred, tension, riots or violence but a joyous celebration of a great sport.
The city of Glasgow played a full part in this. It welcomed the visitors. had a supplement in Spanish. Trains coming into Glasgow had announcements in Spanish, restaurants advertised paella and there were city squares where supporters of both teams could enjoy and celebrate their love of football and their team.
Often in football, in English football, it seems to love your team you must hate the rival team. The Spaniards in Glasgow last night showed that this need not be the case. Some of the locals said the atmosphere was not quite as brilliant as when, in 2002, , but I am not so sure.
What struck me as soon as I arrived in is that, in contrast to when you go to English football matches, there was no sense of apprehension. Although our football has come a long way since the dreadful Eighties, when it was so heavily scarred by foul violence and racism, there is still, particularly at derby matches, a tension, and police are still required to shield away supporters. Violence may not take place on the scale of the past, thank goodness, but the fear remains that without heavy policing it might.
In Glasgow, in what was in a way a Spanish derby match on foreign soil, not once did I feel any sense of apprehension. Can we honestly say had two English teams got to Athens for the , the joy of Glasgow would have been reproduced? I have my doubts.
Another very noticeable thing was the way the two set of Spanish supporters celebrated their team’s goals. There was joy. But they did not taunt their opponents. but no triumphalism. As it should be.
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