“Zalgiris” fans are angry with the behavior of the Catalans: what was it really like?

“Zalgiris” basketball players made a serious challenge to “Barcelona” coached by Šarūnas Jasikevičius, and after laying down their weapons only in the last moments, they lost to the Catalans 81:89.

The Kaunians were energetically supported by at least several hundred compatriots in the Palau Blaugrana stands, and at least most of them did not encounter any problems.

However, some had to interact with arena security during the meeting.

The Facebook blog “Zalgiris Metrastis” shared a video in which two fans wearing “Zalgiris” shirts, one of whom is a child, are begging Palau Blaugrana. This caused great indignation among the fans of the Kaunas team – they accused the “Barcelona” club of discrimination and urged not to allow a single fan of the Catalan club into the “Žalgiris” arena.

However, having been in the arena on Friday night and seeing everything up close 15min reader Kęstutis claims that the situation was different.

According to him, the fans seen in the video were not kicked out of the arena – Palau Blaugrana staff asked them to take off their green gear or move to the guest section.

“Everyone was asked to either take off their “Zalgiris” gear or come to the top section of the visiting team’s supporters. These two fans came to the top because of security and that is completely understandable,” said Kęstutis.

According to Kęstutis, the Lithuanian fans had no problems entering the arena. According to him, Lithuanians were not asked to show identity documents at the entrances, although many of them bought tickets with Spanish data. This is how Kęstutis himself behaved when “Barcelona” canceled the tickets originally bought by Lithuanians.

They were allowed inside even wearing clothes decorated with the symbols of “Žalgiris” or Lithuania – of course, with instructions from the Spanish that they should hide their green paraphernalia in the main sectors or move to the “Žalgiris” fans’ zone.

At the end of the match, Lithuanians were also cheered by the most loyal fans of Barcelona, ​​who raised the Lithuanian flag in their sector and chanted the name of Barcelona defender Roko Jokubaitis, who played well. According to a “Žalgiris” fan who visited the match, the fans from different countries were friendly with each other – after the match they even exchanged scarves and made friends with each other.

A total of 7,041 fans attended the Palau Blaugrana arena for the second match of the series. 140 seats were reserved for “Žalgiris” supporters, but there were at least twice as many seats for the Lithuanians in the Barcelona Arena.

Next week, the series will move to Kaunas, where the third and, if necessary, the fourth matches will be played.