Young star Lamine Jamal scored the equalizer in the sixth minute of stoppage time to end the match 1-1 at St. James' Park in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 on Tuesday, with the return leg to be played next week in Catalonia.
But the Barcelona fan, who has not been named, was not there to witness the excitement as he would have liked, as he was nearly 600 kilometers away in the southwestern English city of Exeter.
Instead of watching his favorite team play its important continental match, the fan was present at a League 1 match in England between Exeter City and its guest Lincoln, the league leader, in a match that ended with the latter winning 1-0.
Exeter FC officials said they did their best to welcome the lost fan.
Adam Spencer, Exeter's fan experience manager, said, "One of our volunteers came to the office to tell us that this man came in thinking he was going to watch a Barcelona match.".
He added, “His English wasn’t good, but from what we understood, he came from London. I think he probably put St. James’ Park on his phone and then followed the directions from there.”.
He continued: “He was very disappointed and a bit embarrassed. So, we provided him with a ticket and he was able to watch a match at the real St. James’ Park. He would be welcome to come back again anytime.”.
