The world record of 91,553 people who went to see the Barça-Madrid women’s Champions League on Wednesday still resonates today. And so much so that it will resonate, because this week that we are ending has experienced a phenomenon for the history of contemporary sociology. More than 90,000 people attending a women’s soccer game.
This has been possible for several reasons, the first of which is that it has not been a flower of a day or a mushroom that has come out spontaneously. Barça has long invested in the women’s football team. This has given him titles in Spain and Europe, including individual titles such as the Golden Ball for Alexia Putellas. The usual rivalry with Madrid and the expectation that Barça could beat the whites also brought many people to the stadium. But the main factor was the expectation that one could live a unique afternoon, a unique experience, and we live in the society of exclusive experiences, and many people did not want to miss it.
And then it turned out that the sum of all these factors (the strength of Barça, the rivalry with Madrid, the empowerment of women, the unique emotions) turned the match into a party. I read a chat from a lifelong Barça-linked woman: there must be. Yesterday I saw that these are new times and we showed that sport can contribute a lot to society “. And another fan replied: “It’s true that it was more of a party than a Champions League match as we are used to, but there are new ingredients in women’s football.” And another: “Women’s football is more noble, there is not as much violence and theater as men’s.” And another from the group: “It is very exciting to see many mothers with their daughters and groups of friends going to the Camp Nou; a very healthy, healthy and yes, noble atmosphere.”
In other words, on the one hand it was a party because it was a special day, but on the other hand some attendees understand that the behavior of the public in a women’s match tends to be more sporty and the rivalry is expressed in a more polite way. .
To symbolize it, this photograph that is on the cover of today Sports worldsigned by Pere Puntí: the Barça captain, Alexia Putellas, taking a photo with the family of a Madrid player, Teresa Abelleira, smiling, happy, beyond the fact that the match would have ended 5-2.
Football, thanks to Barça, all things considered, it has made it possible to take a giant step. They think that Barça was founded in 1899, and it was not until 1923 that the first member was allowed to register. And that one of the people I read from the chat was playing football when she was little, and she wrote a letter to Barça president Josep Lluís Núñez to let her be on the pitch collecting balls when they came out of the field as she saw them doing. the kids. They didn’t even answer him.
But the giant step is for the whole of society, not just for Barça or football. Now the girls play too, and when they play, the boys look at them from the stands. They are the protagonists, and they should not be just passive spectators of men. The symbolic force of this fact does not escape anyone. The 8-M have promoted the demand for women in all fields, including football, and Barça-Madrid on Wednesday will promote the same demand for women.
One last consideration: during some phases of the match, the audience sang in their hearts what do you want “Where is Florentino?”, the president of Madrid. The market was full (Aragonés, Colau, Xavier Hernández…), but the president of Madrid was not there. It wasn’t because Florentino was drawn to the social change that has driven women’s football. Think that Madrid football was created in July 2020. Barça, on the other hand, were in 1988, 32 years earlier, although it was not until ten years ago that they received the investment needed to make it competitive. All these are not minor details, at a time when there are many comparisons interested in showing that Madrid is much better than Barcelona. The fact that Barcelona is known all over the world for this world record for attending a women’s football match indicates that, once again, as has happened with the labor movements or the artistic avant-garde, Catalan society is more sensitive and, therefore, , faster to join social change. And that is a very good sign.
Have a great weekend.
