Barcelona’s Unwavering Home Form Despite Reduced Crowd Support

Barcelona’s home form, renowned for its strength in the previous season, has remained impressive even with the absence of their usual fervent 80,000 fans at Camp Nou this season. Despite the significantly reduced capacity, the Blaugrana have continued to perform well in front of a crowd averaging 41,500 at Montjuic. This marks a significant drop from the 83,500 average attendance of the previous season, attributed to the reduced number of season ticket holders, which currently stands at 17,000 compared to the usual 85,000.

Surprisingly, Barcelona has achieved its best home start since 2007, with Frank Rijkaard’s team being the last to win their first 11 matches at Camp Nou, according to Sport. So far this season, they have secured victories in all seven of their home matches, conceding only three goals while scoring an impressive 19 goals.

As they gear up for the upcoming El Clasico, Real Madrid aims to end Barcelona’s remarkable home winning streak. The Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys, where Espanyol played between 1997 and 2009, is one of the few stadiums where Real Madrid has had more losses than wins during that period, with a record of five wins, two draws, and six defeats to Espanyol.

While both teams acknowledge that numbers and records may hold limited weight in the context of El Clasico, these statistics add intriguing details to the storied rivalry. For Barcelona, restoring Camp Nou as a formidable fortress will be crucial to their success this season, despite the past derisive regard of the stadium when it was Espanyol’s home.