Barcelona suffer defeat in front of half-empty stadium

FC Barcelona returned to the Camp Nou on Monday, and were happy to see the stands back in the club's colours. However, the predominantly Blaugrana crowd only filled just over half the stands, and they were disappointed to see the team lose 0-1 to Cadiz in La Liga.

The club was hoping to erase the nightmare of last Thursday's Europa League exit at the hands of Eintracht Frankfurt, where the Camp Nou was taken over by over 30,000 away supporters. Unfortunately, Monday's game only rubbed salt to the wound, with only approximately 57,000 fans making it to the stadium to watch the match.

However, the sparse attendance could also have been caused by the fact that the game took place on Easter Monday, with many fans still out of town or resting from holy week activities. As a consolation, most of the crowd appeared to have been home fans,, unlike the Europa League fiasco just days before.

Nevertheless, Barcelona fans did not hold back from showing their frustration with the back-to-back losses coupled with the ticketing debacle. Small protests were held outside the Camp Nou, and large sections of the stands remained empty in an apparent boycott.

However, while the club's management could have done more to prevent the invasion of German fans, the fact remains that many home supporters and season ticket holders appear to have sold their tickets or helped other people secure seats in the designated areas for home supporters.

The defeat against Cadiz did not help the situation at all, with Real Madrid being left with far more breathing room at the top of the table. Barcelona remain 15 points behind the leaders, with only seven matches still remaining.

Xavi Hernandez had been riding on a high earlier this month, but things took a sudden turn for the worse last week. Expectations are always high for the Barcelona squad, and it remains to be seen how they can bounce back for the final stretch of the season.