There we encountered the first 'Pirate' of the day, "Boletin de Barca" A4 in size with a picture of Iniesta on the cover and priced at the usual 5euros. 20 pages with a couple of advert for sponsors to make it look more official and a bar code on the front. The script for this is in both Spanish (maybe Catalan?) and English.
A walk up Las Ramblas brought the other 2 pirate issues, firstly one headed "Champions Magazine" this also had "Official Magazine Souvenir" across the corner and an action shot from the first match at Ibrox on the cover. Again A4 in size 20 pages different layout internally and script is all in English.
Next up was the famous 'Thomas' and his "Infierno Blaugrana" as with the other two 5euros again and A4 20 pages, bi-lingual as per the first one I picked up and with a photo of Ronaldinho on the cover.
All three had been well made and were openly on sale in the City but not at the Stadium, I would presume given the number of Rangers fans with at least one of these copies then they may well have sold out long before the match anyway as they were doing a roaring trade the last time I saw them.
Also picked up in Las Ramblas and available at all news stands was "SPORT" this is the newspaper which used to publish the Official Barcelona Programme for their home games and which is dedicated to FC Barcelona in particular, I chose this because of the close connection to the Club as other Spanish Sports Newspapers had good previews and coverage of the fixture but "SPORT" is the FCB sports newspaper. The first 16 pages were devoted to the fixture then after that mostly about FC Barcelona in general. Price was 1 euro.
Available at the Stadium (Camp Nou is what it is called Tam Cowan!!) was The Glasgow Evening Times who had produced a Champions League Special Edition at 2 euros, disappointingly it was a copy of that days newspaper with a Champions League wrap around. Still with the match preview it will be worth keeping.
At 7pm local time the much awaited copies of "Media Punta" arrived at the Stadium, they were just dumped on the pavement outside and although some ladies were handing them out free most were just helping themselves from the bundles lying about, I lifted a handful and discovered I had taken around 60 copies!
This is regarded as the Official programme for European Nights at the Camp Nou, as Barcelona don't issue for the Champions League. Media Punta issue for a number of the top sides in Spain and each issue is dedicated to a particular match, it's an odd size, smaller than A4 and larger than A5. On reading the bit about the company they issue for the Stadium and not the Clubs as they list each of the Stadiums they are available at but do not mention the Clubs who play there. For a free publication it is very good and only 5 ½ pages of adverts, although the paper quality is quite flimsy and a few were seen discarded around the ground in tatters after the match.
Whilst up at the ground early I went into the Supporters Services Office as they had copies of the Official Barcelona Programme "Barca Camp Nou" I had though these might be available for the match but although the girl at the desk was very helpful and spoke good English she wasn't sure if they would be out for the Rangers match, as it turned out they weren't .
The 2 copies I picked up were for Barca's last two home matches against UD Almeria and Real Betis. These used to be produced by "Sport" when I was there 4 years ago and now look like Barca have produced these themselves as they are sub headed "Diari official FC Barcelona" Num. 46 Any 2 & Num. 48 Any 3. I had though the Real Betis issue might have been regarded as a double issue but the page on the Champions League is the same as in the Almeria issue, so there is definitely no connection for the Rangers match, still another couple of programmes for the collection!
The UEFA press pack is downloadable from their web site and is packed with information, someone is selling these on ebay for a couple of quid but you can do it yourself for free.
I also had a look on ebay for Pirate issues which are being flogged by cheats and liars and there were around half a dozen of these which although most stated they are pirates or unofficial they were nowhere near the match and are printed off when required, one did have the audacity to claim his would be on sale at the airport, aye right, which airport!
At least the Spanish Pirates produce better quality as the years go on and make the effort to go to the Cities and Stadiums to sell them.
Because of the gap between home matches at Ibrox, a whole month!!!, I can't say if anyone else picked up any other publications, it will be interesting to see if the Great White Programme Hunters come back with any additional items.