It is usual for some fans to carry banners directed to their favorite players asking them to give them their shirts during football matches, but what happened in the Catalan “derby”, between Barcelona and its neighbor Espanyol, witnessed a different incident.
Before the start of the match that took place on Saturday at the “Spotify Camp Nou” stadium in the 15th round of the Spanish League, three Barcelona players stood towards the stands, holding banners with the names of 3 children written on them and containing messages addressed to them.
💙♥️ ¡Ellos son los verdaderos cracks, @FCBarcelona_es! #LaLigaSantander https://t.co/NVE30dCafg pic.twitter.com/37EblPcfl5
- LaLiga (@LaLiga) December 31, 2022
And the newspaper "Marca" (MARCA) stated that Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, Sergi Roberto and Pedri surprised 3 children from Barcelona fans: Muhammad, Aran and Abraham, and asked them to exchange gloves, armbands and shirts with them.
Ter Stegen, Barcelona goalkeeper, devoted his message to a child named Muhammad, as he asked him to give him his shirt in exchange for providing him with his glove, and he said in his message: “Muhammad, hero, give me your shirt and I will give you my gloves.”
As for Pedri's message, it says: "I want Ibrahim's amazing shirt in exchange for mine," while Sergi Roberto wrote in his message: "Aran... I want to exchange your shirt for the captain's badge that I carry."
And the official account of FC Barcelona published pictures showing the three children inside the stadium, and each of them received his gift, and in return they presented the Barcelona shirts that they were wearing to the players.
Marca explained that this step came as an initiative of the Barcelona Foundation, which is concerned with education, protection and community work, noting that the club invited the three children and their families to attend the match.
Los verdaderos cracks ❤️
👏 @Pedri
👏 @5sergiob
👏 @mterstegen1 pic.twitter.com/654vYllYeU
- FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona_es) January 1, 2023
The initiative was highly praised by Barcelona fans, who considered the players' behavior in this way a good gesture towards the children, who were not aware of what had happened, and were surprised while they were sitting in the stands with their families by the messages addressed to them.
It is noteworthy that the match ended in a 1-1 draw, as Barcelona scored in the seventh minute through Marcos Alonso, before Joselo equalized from a penalty kick in the 73rd minute.
Barcelona raised its score to 38 points at the top of the standings, on goal difference against Real Madrid, and Espanyol raised its score to 13 points in 16th place.