Supporting Barcelona/Milan/Continental Teams

Omackeral

I have a friend who is inconsolable following the triple whammy of Barcelona conceding La Liga, being knocked out of the Champions League and Pep Guardiola leaving.

The reaction from the rest of the lads is strange to behold. Some are saying ''ah just leave him to get over it'' while others are ripping the p1ss out of him with comments like ''eh they're from Spain, why do you care?''. I myself am just a little bemused by it all unfolding.

He is a major Barca fan, has followed them years. He has the crest tattooed on his arm and all! The lads ripping him apart for following a Spanish team are supporters of EPL teams themselves, so is this hypocritical? Or do you see a big difference in supporting a team from further afield? Do you know Irish people who solely or majorly support other teams from continental Europe or maybe you do yourself? Is it as acceptable as following English teams, which 90% of lads over here seem to do, or is it strange?

SantryRed

They are idiots.

_blank_

Omackeral wrote: »

others are ripping the p1ss out of him with comments like ''eh they're from Spain, why do you care?''.

Do these same imbeciles support teams from England?

Hank Scorpio

Don't teams like Liverpool / United / Celtic etc fall into the same bracket?

Nailz

He can support who he goddamn wants, as long as he's not a plastic supporter acting the child I have no problems with that, and I do know a good few plastic Barcelona "supporters" too. The other lads are being complete morons, by the way.

LuckyLloyd

If you're from Dublin and don't go to live games, I can't see much difference between being a passionate supporter of Manchester Utd or Barcelona. I don't see a problem with either, enjoy football as you see fit imo (though plenty will be along to this thread to disagree, the Bat signal has been released).

Needless to say, there is a difference between attending matches of any club, or following from afar.

Ultimately, it shouldn't be at all surprising that your mate exists given the way modern football is packaged, delivered and consumed as an entertainment product.

Paully D

Yeah, it must be awful finishing second in the league, making the Champions League semi-final and reaching a cup final.

What an awful, awful season. :rolleyes:

He's inconsolable? What a spoilt little brat. I'd hate to see what would happen if these people supported a team that actually struggled.

Oat23

Crest on his arm? Really?

Really??

I don't know why people do that.

But yes, his friends are hypocrites. He should tell them to p*ss off.

Nailz

I agree, getting a tattoo is a bit daft, but that's beside the point. In fairness, though, having thought this over, as a supporter of any team, he should be able to take a bit of stick from his mates. If my silly Scouser peers have at me for whatever reason, I'll just throw back playful abuse about them supporting Liverpool. He should be able to deal with it himself, unless he characteristically can't take it, then his friends should cop on.

Jimmy Iovine

Nailz wrote: »

I agree, getting a tattoo is a bit daft, but that's beside the point. In fairness, though, having thought this over, as a supporter of any team, he should be able to take a bit of stick from his mates. If my silly Scouser peers have at me for whatever reason, I'll just throw back playful abuse about them supporting Liverpool. He should be able to deal with it himself, unless he characteristically can't take it, then his friends should cop on.

I remember when I was 7 I was brought into my friends garage and made watch as they threw darts at a picture of Eric Cantona. They were both Liverpool fans. It's scary the things children can think of doing at times ha.

As for the lad in the op, let him off with supporting whoever he wants. He should be able to take a slagging though. They've been the best team in the world for a few years now. One or two losses shouldn't matter that much.

NIMAN

I'm an Irish Real Madrid fan. I don't see a problem with supporting a foreign football team (to me England is foreign, and I don't mean that politically).

I have been to plenty of Madrid matches, and have only stopped going due to marriage and children, but I will be back again some day.

Never got the tattoo though!

AgileMyth

Your friend deserves the stick. How dare he go against the age old Irish tradition of supporting the team that won the English league when you were 8.

Turtwig

One of my friends has been supporting Barcelona since he was 5 or 6. He even tuned in to watch Pep's press conference live and afterwards you could see him holding back tears. One person was condescending towards him saying he shouldn't be upset about Spanish teams and support those closer to home. To which he curtly replied,
"They're not Spanish, they're Catalan. Unlike yourself with Utd. and Celtic, I actually do support Cork City an IRISH team. "

Made my day.

kitakyushu

Personally I believe a fan has as much validity in following a team in Spain or Italy as they do Engand.

Some fans will try to cod you into believing there is a strong cultural attachment between English clubs and Ireland but I think the only reason there's a premiership obsession in this country is because that's where we've always sent our best players. It automatically takes our interest.

By contrast if we'd be selling our best to the Bundesliga, Serie A and La Liga for the last 50 years then I'm convinced no one in this country would give a fiddler feck about the prem today.

Jelle1880

His mates are hypocrites then.

I don't see any issue with following a foreign team.

Frisbee

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