Barcelona face near 400-mile bus journey to Eibar as Catalan chaos threatens airport closure

La Liga champions take on opponents in northern Spain at 12pm local time on Saturday

Lionel Messi was on target on a night when both sides missed chances (Getty)

Barcelona may have to make an arduous 379-mile, six-hour bus journey just to reach Eibar ahead of the teams’ La Liga fixture this weekend.

The Catalan club’s initial travel fans could face disruption as a strike threatens to shut down Barcelona’s airport, which has already closed once this week.

Police and protestors have been clashing following the conviction of Catalan separatist leaders, and the chaos spilled into El Prat airport on Monday, leading to the cancellation of hundreds of flights.

Should the disorder persist through the week, Barcelona may be forced to seek an alternative means of travel, which would likely see them forced to take a bus journey to northern Spain for their game against Eibar, which is scheduled for 12pm local time on Saturday.

The Spanish champions famously suffered a similar situation in 2010, when the closure of European airspace due to volcanic ash meant the team had to travel to Milan via bus.

The journey was followed by a 3-1 defeat to Inter Milan in the first leg of the sides’ Uefa Champions League semi-final tie, which the Italian club would ultimately win before lifting the trophy after beating Bayern Munich in the final.

Barcelona are second in La Liga with 16 points from eight games, while rivals Real Madrid sit atop the table, two points clear.

Meanwhile, fourteenth-placed Eibar have taken nine points from eight games in the league.

Barcelona and Eibar drew 2-2 in their last meeting, a La Liga match in May.