for showing Barcelona that English football, sunshine and
beer can mix without violence.
After their team's victory, thousands of supporters
celebrated into the early hours, but there was just one
arrest in the city centre and no trouble in surrounding
resorts.
The authorities at the Nou Camp stadium, which has a
capacity of 92,000, estimated that 55,000 United fans were
in the ground to celebrate the historic treble. The official
allocation of tickets was 30,000. Between 5,000 and 10,000
fans, including 3,000 who arrived in the city to find that
tickets they had been promised did not exist, were locked
out. Never before have so many British fans travelled to a
match abroad, and Barcelona was apprehensive.
David Broomfield, the British Consul in the city, said:
"Given the sheer numbers, the fact that there was just one
arrest is amazing." The Spanish media and police were also
complimentary, although officers were said to have been
taken aback by the huge capacity of some United fans to
consume alcohol