FCBARCELONA.CAT

16.03.2010 12:47

Barca to travel to Zaragoza by AVE

Edgar Fornós

FC Barcelona will travel to Zaragoza for their next league game on Sunday on the High Speed Rail Link -the AVE. It’ll be the first time since the 1997/98 season, when Louis Van Gaal was in charge, that the team have travelled to a game by train.

It’s been twelve years and thirteen seasons since Barca last used the train to travel to a game. The last time was for the final of the Spanish Cup in Valencia against Mallorca in 1998. Twelve years on the team will make the hour and a half journey to Zaragoza for Sunday’s game at La Romareda on Spain’s modern AVE high speed train.

The trip

As has become normal in Barca’s league games, the team will travel on match day, taking the train from Barcelona Sants and arriving at the Zaragoza Delicias station at 12.40 ahead of the 21.00 kick off.

Good memories of train trips

Train trips certainly seemed to suit Van Gaal’s team in the 97/98 season. The team travelled to Valencia three times on the Euromed service and won on each of the occasions. The first trip was in the third week of the league when Barca won 0-3 with goals from Anderson, Rivaldo and De la Peña.

The teams also met in the last 16 of the Spanish Cup and after a 2-1 win at the Nou Camp, Van Gaal’s men won 1-3 in the return, with Rivaldo(2) and Giovanni getting the goals. After beating Merida and Zaragoza on the way, and with the final also at the Mestalla, Barca took the train to victory again and lifted the Cup after beating Hector Cuper’s Mallorca on penalties after the game had finished 1-1.