Championship triumph in Barcelona: More than 80,000 say "Thank you Hansi" at wild party

Cup, Supercup – and championship. Hansi Flick leads FC Barcelona to a major triumph. A huge success for the former national coach and the team. The city celebrates its football heroes with corresponding ecstasy.

The FC Barcelona football team was enthusiastically celebrated by thousands of people after winning the Spanish league. During a ride through the Catalan metropolis on an open-top bus, players and the countless fans lining the streets chanted slogans like "Champion, champion, champion, oe, oe, oe!" or – in reference to archrival Real Madrid – "Jump, jump, jump – if you don't jump, you're a Madridista!"

Police had expected around 80,000 people to take to the streets. According to estimates by the TV station RTVE, there were significantly more celebrating Hansi Flick's team. The former national coach was among those who received the loudest cheers from supporters of all ages. Some people carried signs in German with slogans like "Thank you Hansi!"

German national goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen, who has been injured for a long time, told the club's broadcaster "Barça One" that it was particularly moving for him "to see how happy people are and how much they have supported us throughout the season and are now supporting us on the streets."

Ter Stegen revels blissfully

"You never get tired of winning titles," said the 33-year-old, who won the Primera División title for the sixth time since joining Barça from Mönchengladbach in the summer of 2014. But the latest triumph was also a first for the captain. It was his first year and his first title in this role, "and that's precisely why it's so special for me."

During the ride in an open-top bus, the players ate pizza and chocolate cookies, along with beer and cola. Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny smoked a cigar, as Mundo Deportivo reported. The trip began at the Camp Nou stadium, which was closed this season due to renovations, and was scheduled to last more than three and a half hours. The climax of the party took place at the Arc de Triomf, the triumphal arch in the center of the Catalan metropolis.

After the successes in the Spanish Cup and the Spanish Supercup, FC Barcelona, ​​with Flick, ter Stegen and other former Bundesliga professionals such as Dani Olmo and Robert Lewandowski as well as young superstar Lamine Yamal, secured their 28th league title late Thursday evening with a 2-0 win at city rivals Espanyol, two matchdays before the end of the league.