There is a week when football lovers in Barcelona think little of Barça, Espanyol or the rest of professional football. There is a week (at least one) in which the attention in the Catalan capital is focused on a derby between neighborhoods (formerly independent towns) between two classic teams of the country: Unió Esportiva Sant Andreu and Club Esportiu Europa. This derby, known as "La Vila against the Town" or "the Plan Derby," has increased in intensity in the last two decades and has become the most important neighborhood duel in national football.
The atmosphere in both the Narcís Sala and the Nou Sardenya never disappoints, and the two fans never fail in their particular battle of fans and original chants, despite knowing that their animation groups are so far apart in the defense of colors that are close in terms of political ideology, because this derby between two annexed neighborhoods is also an ode to modest football and an anti-fascist claim.
The spirit of local football, as football used to be, is mixed in stands that are committed to social causes and that adopt political positions that condemn any form of oppression. Desperdicis, the entertainment stand of Sant Andreu, was founded in 2007 and since then, every game played at the Narcís Sala bears a certain resemblance to any game played in Buenos Aires. The stands keep cheering, the players notice it, and Desperdicis has noticeably helped the strong bond that the people of the neighborhood have with their club today. One of the clubs with the most members in modest football. A few years later, in 2013, the Eskapulats were formed, Europe's entertainment stand, which has given color to the New Sardinia and with its songs has caused the old fans of Europe to march every fortnight to home humming the repertoire of tunes that are sung on his football field. The two historic clubs need their fans, the neighbors of Sant Andreu del Palomar and Vila de Gràcia also need them, Desperdicis and Eskapulats are also needed, and Barcelona, and Catalonia, also need the two gangs of young people each more and more faithful, more and more numerous. The battle of color and songs, is always served in the great neighborhood classic.
Now, in 2024 and thanks to their fans, the two clubs are going through their best moment for many decades. Optimism and partying have moved from the stands to the pitch. Europe, the scapular group, will visit the Narcís Sala next Sunday, January 28, as the leader of the Second Federation, and the quadribarratos (the Sant Andreu), located in Play-Off places for promotion, will do everything possible to take - the derby and cut points to their biggest rival.
The best atmosphere of modest football no longer goes unnoticed in Barcelona; everyone wants to go to the classic, it even has groundhopper tourism and it's being talked about beyond our borders. Tickets are almost sold out on a historic day where there will be a box office record, but Football Host, sponsor and official agency that collaborates with both Sant Andreu and Europe and that promotes neighborhood football around the world, still has of some derby tickets.
The party of the season is played at the Narcís Sala, and both teams arrive more optimized and in better shape than ever. Cano, Josu, Pauet or Albertito will play the football, the stands will take care of the passion. January 28, 2024, at six in the afternoon, Sant Andreu and Europe, The celebration of a necessary football.
