50th game at Estadi Johan Cruyff
The Estadi Johan Cruyff will host its 50th game this Sunday when Barça B host Badalona (6.00pm CET, Barça TV).
Since the Barça and Ajax U19 teams met in a friendly on 29 August 2019 to open the ground, an emotional ceremony included, with thousands of fans in the terraces, together with the four senior team captains and the Cruyff family, the new home of Barça B (21 games) and Barça Women (22 games) has hosted fixtures almost every weekend, as well as games in the UEFA Youth League (4 games) and two first team friendlies.
Of course, there was a spell when no games were played because of Covid-19, and the 15 games played since football resumed have been played behind closed doors.
The record
Barça B: W12, D7, L2
Barça Women: W22, D0, L0
Barça U19: W0, D0, L4
Barça senior team: W2, D0, L0.
Memorable games
Barça B
2-0 v Atlético Levante (first win at the stadium)
2-0 v Espanyol (first reserve derby)
1-0 v Sabadell
3-2 v Llagostera (Ilaix completed comeback in final seconds to secure playoff berth and last game played before crowd).
Barça Women
9-1 v Tacón
6-1 v Atlético
3-0 v Atlético
1-0 v Deportivo (Copa de la Reina game that went into extra time)
2-1 v Juventus (Champions League)
4-1 v PSV (Champions League).
Great moments
Some of the most memorable goals scored by Barça B at the stadium have included Álex Collado’s amazing solo goal against Atlético Levante, Riqui Puig’s extraordinary effort against Prat, Jorge Cuenca’s first goal and Monchu’s spectacular volley against Badalona.
As for the women, who could forget Lieke Martens’ Cruyff-esque goal, Melanie Serrano scoring direct from a corner, Jenni Hermoso becoming the team’s all-time highest goalscorer or the Spanish Super Cup and Liga Iberdrola celebrations in 2019/20.
Sadly, there will be nobody at the ground for Sunday’s game with Badalona, but we all hope to see fans filling the terraces once again very soon.
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