The most tense 21 days end with an unusual match

Manresa"It was the most intense three weeks I can remember." Baxi Manresa president Josep Maria Herms and club manager Carles Sixto have been on the phone for the past three weeks, managing the organization of the match against Hapoel Jerusalem. Talks with both government and police agencies were constant during 21 tense days that culminated in the Eurocup matchday three.

The first match of the season against an Israeli team in Catalonia became a testing ground. Barça and Joventut Badalona will have to go through the same thing. "Everyone has congratulated us on how we handled the situation," said the club, which has worked cautiously to achieve the only viable scenario: a match played behind closed doors. Baxi Manresa won (101-94).

Various organizations attempted to prevent access to the Hapoel Jerusalem stadium. The first protesters gathered near the Barceló Sants Hotel in Barcelona, ​​where the Israeli team had planned to secretly stay. According to the protesters, the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) used pepper spray without warning to disperse some groups. The second group deployed to try to block the three entrances to the Nou Congost: Farinera, Pont Nou, and Pirelli. "We've never seen a police deployment like this," said the protesters, who carried a banner with the slogan "Love basketball, hate genocide." The strategy failed, and the Israeli team entered via the San Juan de Vilatorrada exit off the C-25 highway. Three heavily guarded white buses transported the players.

The police established a perimeter of more than a kilometer to seal off the Nou Congost. The parking lot of the complex presented an unusually apocalyptic image. Manresa City Council suspended routine sports activities for clubs and schools starting at 2:00 p.m. Soccer, athletics, gymnastics, baseball, and climbing wall classes postponed their training sessions. While the teams were warming up, a group of protesters tried to find an unguarded access point to the arena by walking along the train tracks, but the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) closely monitored their movements. Inside the arena, the scene was very different: calm, and no unaccredited spectators. "We're the ones who've lost the most," lamented the manager of one of the bars in the Nou Congost, who was only able to serve journalists.

The night ended with Hapoel changing hotels to avoid further riots.