How Barcelona celebrated winning La Liga – players cycling to see Torres and 670,000 fans in the streets

New York Times

18-05-2025

The Barcelona players formed a circle and started jumping on the pitch.
They had been La Liga champions for about 30 seconds on Thursday night when their coach, Hansi Flick, ran over and started urging each player towards the dressing room. Some of them who were ignoring him were given a small push in the right direction.
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Less than a minute after the referee blew the final whistle, the RCDE Stadium (home of Barcelona's cross-city rivals, Espanyol) turned on the sprinklers to bring an even more abrupt end to the title winners' celebrations.
Two years ago, Barcelona were crowned champions in the same venue under Xavi Hernandez. That occasion hurt even more for Espanyol — not only did they have to watch their rivals lift the title, the result also relegated them to Spain's second division. There was a pitch invasion and the Espanyol supporters chased after the Barcelona players, who had to be evacuated by the police.
Flick asked for respect if Barcelona won the title there again and he was very keen to avoid a repeat of what happened last time.
'It was very clear on the pitch that we couldn't celebrate,' Flick said at the post-match press conference.
Their celebrations were only just getting started.
There was dancing in the dressing room, with president Joan Laporta and sporting vice-president Rafa Yuste joining in the fun. The players made a video call to Ferran Torres, who missed the match and the celebrations after undergoing emergency surgery for appendicitis, and the Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny lit the first cigar, which he shared with his compatriot Robert Lewandowski.
The squad took the bus back to Barcelona's training ground, just 6km away from the RCDE Stadium. They were met by a crowd of fans with red flares who were desperate to celebrate the club's 28th league title with them. The players and coaching staff appeared on one of the balconies at the complex to join in the fans' chants.
'We have to get down to the mud (get in with the fans),' said their outstanding young centre-back Pau Cubarsi, a graduate from La Masia who is a key part of the first team at the age of 18.
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The cars began to leave with the players one by one. The first to go was Alejandro Balde. On his way out of the training complex, the young full-back stopped his convertible car and stood up, topless, to salute the crowd.
The midfielder Marc Casado, like so many of this Barcelona squad another graduate from their academy, kept looking at his mobile phone. On the Twitch streaming account Jijantes, Casado asked how many people were at Canaletes, the fountain in the city centre where tourists often gather and the spot where Barcelona fans celebrate titles.
A few minutes later, the 21-year-old appeared alone at Canaletes, where he was cheered on by the 7,000 fans who had gathered after midnight to party. He was escorted by two fans who covered his face and made sure he was not mobbed by the adoring fans. Casado was living his best life.
In another part of Barcelona, near the Hospital de Barcelona on Avenida Diagonal, four footballers had taken the Bicing — the public bike service in the city — to go to visit a friend in hospital before going out to celebrate. Dani Olmo, Pedri, Eric Garcia and Inigo Martinez wanted to see their team-mate Ferran Torres, who had surgery on Wednesday for appendicitis.
A post shared by Dani Olmo (@daniolmo)
'Look how beautiful the moon is,' Pedri said in one of the videos shared by the players on social media. The moon was full and they looked like four children straight out of 'The Goonies' on their bikes, oblivious to the fact they were the idols of the Barcelona fanbase in that moment.
The partying on Thursday (or the early hours of Friday) ended at two well-known nightclubs in the city: Luz de Gas, where the Barcelona board went to mark the triumph, and Twenties, where the staff and players went. Luz de Gas has become famous for being the favourite venue of the Barcelona president Laporta and it was there that he celebrated Pep Guardiola's treble in 2009.
The night was long, but a few hours later on Friday, it was time for the victory parade through the city. It started at the Camp Nou, which is being renovated for the 2025-26 season, and ended at the Arc de Triomf in the city centre.
At the Camp Nou, as the open-top bus passed by, the workers came over to greet the players from their positions. Without stopping work on what will be the new home of this team, they waved to the players from behind their protective helmets.
There were 670,000 people in the streets to catch a glimpse of their heroes and to paint the city blue and red. It has been a tough couple of years, but now it was time to celebrate.
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The street party summed up everything this season has been about. Flick was busy looking after his players like a father, just as he has done all season. When Fermin Lopez was singing at the top of his voice on the safety bar of the bus, Flick was holding him from behind to prevent him from falling.
When the fans threw shirts up for the players to sign, Flick was organising things and making sure the shirts went back to their correct owners and that another supporter didn't grab them.
A post shared by FC Barcelona (@fcbarcelona)
The coach looked like a school bus. At the front were the more responsible players. At the back, guarding the trophies, the cool kids — Lamine Yamal, Alejandro Balde, Gavi. Although in the end, rather fittingly, it was two defenders who ended up looking after the silverware: Inigo Martinez (the MVP of the celebrations) and Eric Garcia.
Raphinha was wearing a Barcelona hat with spikes on it, accompanied by Jules Kounde. Two of last season's stragglers have become heroes this year and are among the most beloved players of this double-winning campaign. It was Kounde who scored the decisive goal in the Copa del Rey final against Real Madrid last month.
The most acclaimed during the parade were Pedri, Cubarsi, Raphinha, Yamal and Flick. All five have had a massive impact on the club in this memorable season. It's easy to forget that two of them (Yamal and Cubarsi) are still teenagers. On the bus, Cubarsi was drinking a can of Fanta.
The 'Szczesny smoker' chant was sung again and again, led by the players with a microphone and repeated back to them by the fans. The Polish goalkeeper has embraced the chant as his own, wearing a hat that says 'Smoker'. He also played with a fan, throwing sweets into his mouth from the bus.
As the celebrations played out, you could see the character of each player and how close the group are, like a family. Hanging out of the league trophy at the back of the bus was a shark soft toy, an attempt to include Torres in the celebrations given his 'shark' nickname.
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There was collective hysteria over the achievements of this brilliant young team, built around stars from the club's academy, which makes it far easier for supporters to identify with them.
'If we weren't on this coach, we'd be down in the front row going wild,' Marc Bernal and Gerard Martin told club media during the parade. The players were struck by the atmosphere generated by the fans and the amount of joy they were bringing them by succeeding on the pitch.
The 'Baby Barca' tag is catching on. With so many of these players, the fans feel that they have one of their own defending the famous shirt. You could see it with Casado going alone to Canaletes, with Cubarsi wanting to go down with the fans, wanting to be 'in the mud'.
This Barcelona is the result of La Masia. And with the quality of youth that Flick has at his disposal, they seem destined to mark a new era at the club.