MANCHESTER UNITED'S army of 30,000 supporters have been warned to expect chaos when they arrive in Barcelona for next month's European Cup final against Bayern Munich.
Local officials called a hastily convened conference in the Catalan city on Friday, which identified three key potential problems: travel, accommodation and local animosity.
Barcelona's heavily congested El Prat Airport will not be able to cope with an invasion of 60,000 fans from England and Germany. Most flights will be diverted to two smaller regional airports, at Gerona and Reus, more than 70 miles away.
Travel officials from United have chartered two jets, capable of carrying 1,000 fans, which will fly direct into Barcelona. But most smaller planes will be forced to land at the other airports, which are more than an hour's journey away and connected to the city by a transport system which is notoriously unreliable.
Moreover, fans looking for rooms at the start of the Costa Brava's busy tourist season may then have to travel miles further to find a bed. Hotels in Barcelona are fully booked, thanks to the Spanish Motor Show, which takes place in the city the same week, and the Spanish Grand Prix being held in nearby Jerez the following weekend. "The only people who have secured lodgings in Barcelona are the two teams and the official Uefa representatives," said Pilar Rahola, Barcelona's head of tourism.
And ill feeling towards the visitors is already being stirred up by warnings of widespread hooliganism in the local newspaper, El Periodico. It warned its readers: "Barcelona is very nervous. This is the first time since Heysel in 1985 - when 39 people from Juventus died - that an English club has reached the final. Hooliganism continues to be one of the biggest problems in football and it was the English and German fans who caused the biggest disturbances last year during the World Cup in France."
Rather than introduce an alcohol ban in the immediate vicinity of the magnificent Nou Camp stadium - a move which led to exemplary behaviour in Turin during Wednesday's semi-final - the authorities are to call up 1,300 police and 1,400 stewards to keep the peace.
However, with the fans forced to seek accommodation in small towns and resorts all along the Costa Brava, they will be fully stretched at the many potential flashpoints provided by the large number of late-night bars in the region.
Señor Ignacio Ayuso, vice-president of Barcelona's anti-violence committee, defended the decision not to ban alcohol, saying: "The fans are just normal people and not delinquents. We are doing this so that our people are not alarmed by their arrival."
To reduce the threat of fighting within the Nou Camp, officials have reduced the capacity by 8,000 to create large empty seated areas between rival sets of fans. The game is expected to pass off peacefully, but travelling to and from the match will cause supporters of both sides the biggest headache.
