Why are Barcelona worried about Napoli fans taking over Montjuïc for the Champions League game?

In 2022, Eintracht Frankfurt supporters outnumbered their Barça counterparts at Camp Nou. Club bosses are concerned it could happen again at Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys.

14 April 2022 wasn’t the best day in Barcelona’s history, for different reasons. The La Blaugrana were eliminated from the Europa League by Eintracht Frankfurt, who won 3-2 in Catalonia in the second leg of the quarter-finals. But perhaps even worse was that almost 40,000 fans of the German club were in attendance and took over Camp Nou, with Barça doing nothing to monitor who was buying tickets in different parts of the stadium.

Now back in the Champions League, bosses of the LaLiga club are worried about something similar happening in the second leg of the round of 16 tie against Napoli. With Camp Nou under redevelopment and fans seemingly not enamoured by watching their team play at Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in Montjuïc, supporters of the Italian club could take advantage.

The facts look ominous for Barcelona. Napoli quickly sold out their official UEFA allocation of 2,600 tickets, but more are expected in Montjuïc. Supporters groups of the Serie A club claim around 4,000 fans have travelled to Spain without a ticket, with most looking to find one on the day of the game, most likely in the home section of the ground.

On top of that, there is a huge Neapolitan community in the Catalan capital. According to local data, around 17,000 Neapolitans live in Barcelona; we can assume a significant number will also be hoping to be at the game.

With only 17,000 Barcelona fans having season tickets at Estadi Olímpic de Lluís Companys, which has a capacity of just under 56,000, and a large number of tourists and people passing through the city frequently making