Barcelona Fans To Wave Scotland Flags During Copa Del Rey Final

Barcelona fans will wave Saltires at the Copa del Rey final after they were banned from bringing Catalan flags to the game.

The match will be held at Atletico Madrid's Vicente Calderon on Sunday and thousands of Barca supporters are expected to descend on the city along with supporters of final opponents Sevilla.

But they won't be armed with any Estelada flags - their traditional emblem - as authorities believe the pro-independence version of the Catalan flag is inflammatory.

Barca have a huge pro-independence faction of their support, with the club representing Catalan nationalism for the region and its people.The decision to ban the flags is bizarre given the supporters should be given the right to express themselves with freedom.

But the fans are dealing with it by adopting the Saltire flag in a further show of strength with the big contingent of pro-indy supporters in Scotland.

A social media campaign set up to combat the flag ban says: "They can take our flags but they can never take our freedom."

Somebody has obviously been watching Braveheart...

It will be interesting to see just how many Scotland flags are seen in the stands when Barcelona take on Sevilla in the Copa del Rey final on Sunday.

The Premier League's ex-Barcelona XI:

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Jack Kenmare

Jack Kenmare is a writer at SPORTbible. He's interviewed some of the biggest names in sport, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Pele, Carles Puyol and Tim Henman. He dabbles in all things sport but football is his biggest passion. He was once hit in the head by a wayward strike from Nicky Butt and lived to tell the tale.

@jackkenmare_