Éric Abidal’s return was the most poignant image of tonight’s Champions League semi final. On March 15 a tumour was detected in his liver, and following his operation and recovery, he was back in action tonight. It was a wonderful surprise to see his name on the team sheet, and Pep Guardiola rewarded him with some time on the pitch.

Camp Nou ovation

There was a cry of joy in the Camp Nou with a quarter of an hour of the match to go. Éric Abidal was warming up. Then, in the 89th minute, the defender went on as a substitute for Puyol, with the whole stadium applauding and chanting his name.

At the end of the game, his team mates gave him the bumps and the Frenchman joined the rest of the players on a lap of honour., where he was once again treated to rapturous applause.

Emotion and thanks

Abidal then spoke to the Barça TV cameras: “I have never experienced this before. I can sense that the people love me and I love them too and will try to do my best for them on the pitch, as always … I am feeling fine, I didn’t do anything for three weeks and now I’m working hard. My dream was to come back and help the team with so many injuries”.

He was grateful for “the manager’s confidence and the help of the fitness coaches”, and was also “happy for the group and the fans” after qualifying for the final. “Let’s see if we can complete the cycle, I remember how they won in 1992 and I’d like to do it again … But there is a lot of training and matches in between, we have to take this game step by step”.