Joy for most; tears for the rest.
That was how two groups of fans reacted as the Uefa Champions League final ended “Barcelona 3, Juventus 1” early Sunday at Cooper’s Pub at the Park Rotana Hotel in Abu Dhabi.
Many fans arrived wearing the shirts of their preferred side, with Barcelona fans in the majority.
For those who did not show up with their allegiances plain to see, pub staff handed out flags for the Spanish or Italian champions.
The room was full and the atmosphere was loud but not chaotic as the match began. Fans shouted encouragement for their team, and waved their flags.
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Barcelona fan Mohammed Montheri, a 29-year-old Emirati, said: “I am sure we are winning; our last encounters with Juventus have been tough. … I am positive about our victory.”
The sides had not meant since the 2003 Champions League quarter-finals, when Juventus won 3-2 on aggregate, including a 2-1 victory in the second leg.
Montheri’s friend, Ahmed Yassin, a 27-year-old American, normally supports Real Madrid but in this case was backing the club in black and white kits. “I support Juventus … because they are an Italian team and they have suffered for almost 12 years in the football industry,” he said, referring to Juventus being stripped of two league titles and demoted to the second division after the 2006 “calciopoli” scandal.
Yassin predicted Juventus would win 2-1, with Paul Pogba and Alvaro Morata scoring for the Italian club.
The atmosphere become even more intense in the second half, as a Morata goal in the 56th minute levelled the score at 1-1. Fans were shouting and interacting with supporters of the other side, sometimes jumping and shouting at television screens.
Ali Dongival, 26, from Sudan, said he has been a Barcelona fan since 2004, when Ronaldinho was the club’s top player and he saw the Brazilian play at Camp Nou.
Towards the end of the game, when Luis Suarez had given Barca the lead, Dongival said: “I can’t explain how I feel about Barcelona winning, although I predicted the score right.”
He thought the three Barca forwards would score, but Lionel Messi did not get the ball in the net. “I thought the attacking trio would score, but it was just Neymar and Suarez,” he said. “Overall, I am happy we win the Champions League.”
One Juventus fan, Tang Wot, 25, from Thailand, had tears in his eyes.
He had expected his team to win but said he was happy to have watched the final in a place filled with football enthusiasts.
Eventually, fans exchanged congratulations or condolences and seemed happy to have seen a largely entertaining match between elite sides.
malshamsi@thenational.ae
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