Barca 0 Real Madrid 0 : Eyewitness Account From The Only Nigerian To Play In This Fixture In La Liga

Published: December 19, 2019

Former Barcelona defender Gbenga Okunowo was present at the Camp Nou on Wednesday night as the Catalonia-based club were held to a goalless draw by fierce rivals Real Madrid in a rescheduled La Liga fixture.

Though Emmanuel Amuneke featured in El Clásico with his two appearances coming in the Copa del Rey in 1997, Okunowo remains the only Nigerian player to feature in a La Liga game between Barcelona and Real Madrid and that was in September 1998 when he replaced Boudewijn Zenden in the 59th minute.

Okunowo has revealed that there were political undertones surrounding the game and Real Madrid players did everything possible not to lose the match.

"I was at the Camp Nou to watch the game yesterday, as an ex-player just go to the Barcelona office they will give you free tickets to attend matches, they are a great club,'' Okunowo told allnigeriasoccer.com on Thursday morning from Spain.

"The football was different because a lot of things happened behind the scenes - politics, etc. There was fighting outside the stadium. The game was supposed to be played a long time ago but it was cancelled due to political issues.

"The players cannot talk about it because it is not in their hands but the journalists in Spain understand what happened.''

Okunowo added : Because it was a political game, Real Madrid came out with full force. It was a do or die game for them, you saw the way their players defended, as never before.

"We are happy as Barca ex-players nobody got injured, that's the most important thing. If Madrid had won the game, something else would have happened.

''Security yesterday was so tight, even a week before the game. People who went to the stadium know how they got there.

"The supporters wanted Barcelona to win, there was a lot of pressure, the stadium was very full. People traveled from other parts of the world to watch the game, some people didn't have tickets.''

Okunowo spent three years at Barcelona and also represented the club in the Champions League and Supercopa, making 21 appearances in total.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

Photo Credit : fcbarcelona.com