THOMAS TUCHEL’S England side attracted just half the support garnered by the Lionesses as the Three Lions played in RCDE Stadium.
England’s men took on Andorra in the La Liga Stadium on Saturday afternoon, with 6,945 England fans making the trip for the World Cup qualifier.
The RCDE stadium, home of Spanish side Espanyol, looked noticeably empty during the match between England’s men and Andorra.
Sparse pockets of fans spread across the stands in Barcelona with just shy of 7,000 tickets sold to England fans for the match inside the 40,000-seat stadium.
That is just half of the 14,000 fans that piled into the same stadium to watch England Women take on Spain in the Nations League on Tuesday – a match the Lionesses ultimately lost 2-1 as they prepare for this summer’s Euros.
Fans online were quick to notice how empty the stadium looked, reacting on social media.
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One wrote: “What a joke to have a 40,000 seater stadium be that empty when England fans could of had the tickets.”
While another added: “I’m sure everyone is having a lovely time in Barcelona, but a half empty stadium does look rubbish”.
A third asked: “Why is the stadium so empty?”
And a fourth posted: “Must be weird for the England players playing in an empty stadium, looks like an U21 game.”
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It’s no surprise that the stadium wasn’t packed with Andorra fans, with the 40,000 capacity roughly the same as half of the nation’s entire population.
The match, which is considered as Andorra’s home fixture, should have been played at Andorra’s national stadium but was moved to Barcelona – a three hour drive through the Pyrenees.
That’s because Andorra’s Estadi Nacional in Andorra la Vella holds just 3,000 fans, meaning a move to Espanyol’s ground accommodated even more supporters for the clash.
Andorra are moving into a new stadium in the town of Encamp which hosts 5,600 fans, but the ground wasn’t ready in time for this fixture to be arranged there.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
