'Gràcies Johan' mosaic planned for FC Barcelona v Real Madrid

'Gràcies Johan' mosaic planned for FC Barcelona v Real Madrid

Cruyff will be honoured by Camp Nou with the message of gratitude and a Barça shirt with his number '14'

On Saturday night at Camp Nou, a stadium-wide tribute to Johan Cruyff will appear in the form of a mosaic made up of some 90,000 cards that will form the slogan 'Gràcies Johan' (Thanks, Johan).

It is a special tribute made even more so because Saturday's league match is the so-called El Clásico pitting FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. After four days of mourning that saw more than 60,000 fans visit the Cruyff Memorial at Camp Nou, everyone on hand for the game will have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to pay tribute to the legendary former player and coach of FC Barcelona. The message of gratitude will be accompanied by a Barça shirt bearing Cruyff's number 14, and will be flanked by the blaugrana colours of the Barça flag and the red and gold of La Senyera, the national flag of Catalonia.

The words 'Gràcies Johan' will also appear on the shirts worn by FC Barcelona, replacing the world champions shield in the middle of the chest on a one-time basis. The players from both Barça and Real Madrid will take the field accompanied by children wearing shirts bearing the same words on the front, and with the names of the Cruyff Foundation and FC Barcelona on the back.

Saturday's La Liga match against Real Madrid will also be attended by the eight living FC Barcelona presidents — former presidents Agustí Montal, Raimon Carrasco, Josep Lluís Núñez, Joan Gaspart, Enric Reyna, Joan Laporta, Sandro Rosell and current president Josep Maria Bartomeu — who will all be sitting in the Josep Suñol Presidential Box at Camp Nou.

Prior to kick-off, there will also be a minute of silence and a video in memory of Johan Cruyff played on the stadium's video scoreboards.

Força Barça
Força Barça

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