Barça to pay tribute to Cruyff during #ElClasico

The match between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid on Saturday will be marked by a tribute to Johan Cruyff. The Catalan club has announced that before El Clasico, the Camp Nou crowd will display a mosaic composed of 90,000 placards forming the words “Thank you, Johan”, in memory of the former Barcelona player and manager who passed away last week.

The club also announced that these same words, “Thank you Johan”, will figure on the breast of the shirts worn by Luis Enrique’s players, replacing the world champions badge for the game. The players from both teams will head out onto the pitch accompanied by children wearing shirts with the message on the front and the names of the Cruyff and Barcelona foundations on the back.

All of these gestures will be accompanied by a minute’s silence, and a video in memory of the number 14 will be shown on the stadium’s video screens before the match kicks off.

The Camp Nou will host the principal tribute to Johan Cruyff, following a week dedicated to remembering the Dutch star. This included a touching moment last Friday at the Amsterdam Arena, when the referee stopped play in the 14th minute of the game between the Netherlands and France, and the entire stadium took to their feet to remember a footballing genius with applause.