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Sunday

Catalonia celebrates Barcelona's fourth Champions triumph

DPA © The entire region of Catalonia exploded with delight late Saturday as Barcelona won their fourth Champions Cup by beating Manchester United 3-1 at Wembley.

The goals of Pedro, Lionel Messi and David Villa were celebrated wildly in the Catalan capital and in the smaller towns of the north-eastern Spanish region.

An estimated 5 million Catalans, out of a population of 7.5 million, followed the final, many watching on giant screens at outdoor parties.

The only setback for the fans occurred at Barca's Mini Estadi, the club's small stadium where reserve team matches are played. A strong wind created the risk of the giant screen blowing over, so the 15,000 fans had to leave and find somewhere else to follow the big game.

The final whistle in Wembley set off noisy celebrations in Barcelona, Tarragona, Girona, Lleida and in countless small towns and villages.

Barcelona police were keen to prevent the vandalism that marred celebrations in 2009, when Barca won their third Champions.

The two epicentres of the celebrations were Barca's Camp Nou stadium and the downtown Catalonia Square. On Friday, more than 100 protesters were injured when police baton-charged a protest camp that had dominated the square for two weeks, complaining about corruption in the political system.

The celebrations will continue Sunday evening, when Pep Guardiola's team returns with the trophy and parades through the packed city steets.



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