Barcelona’s final preparations for Saturday’s visit to Real Betis took an unexpected turn after dense fog in Seville forced the team to reshape its travel plans and matchday routine.
The squad was originally set to leave Barcelona-El Prat airport early Saturday morning and touch down in Seville shortly before noon. Instead, visibility issues in Andalusia created uncertainty from the moment the players left Barcelona. The club acknowledged the disruption publicly, posting: “The first team’s travel plan has been altered by the fog at the Seville airport. The team will take off with a one-hour delay from Barcelona’s El Prat airport.”
The delay proved only the beginning. SPORT reported that when the squad finally departed at 11:30, they still did not know exactly where they would land. If Seville remained closed, the club’s alternatives included Jerez or Málaga. Barça prepared specifically for the option of flying into Jerez and continuing the journey by road to ensure arrival with enough time to prepare for the 6:30 kickoff at La Cartuja stadium. But in the end, the team was able to land in Seville despite the delay.
The earlier flight carrying most journalists and a large group of supporters also struggled with the conditions, circling above the fog-covered city for more than 40 minutes before the pilot attempted to descend through the mist. Their safe landing eased some of the tension around the situation, though chaos continued inside the airport as other flights remained grounded.
Roughly twenty minutes after that first landing, the Barcelona delegation touched down, one hour later than planned. The team did not reach its hotel, the Barceló Sevilla Renacimiento, until after 1:15, pushing back both the scheduled meal and the rest time set by Hansi Flick and his staff.
The disruption extended beyond the sporting side. MARCA noted that the institutional lunch between club directors, initially programmed for 14:00, was also moved to 14:30 because of the widespread delays.
