BILBAO — «Portuguese? You can’t come in.” The phrase was repeated several times, at the various entrances to San Mamés, and dozens of Portuguese fans, with tickets, were turned away. Athletic had warned, Sporting too. The Portuguese club was prevented by UEFA from selling tickets for this game and the Basques warned that they would prevent Portuguese fans from entering – or, if they escaped control at the doors, they could be removed from the stadium, if they were identified. Still, hundreds tried. Many passed, in several cases taking advantage of the distraction, or lack of desire to be bored, of some stewards. Others caught more zealous guards at the doors and had to reverse. Even with valid tickets in hand. No one that A BOLA saw dared to take Sporting props – even though they saw each other throughout the day in the city. But wearing green and white would be a clear sign of Portugueseness, and the majority's favorite accessory was the game's scarf, half from one club, half from the other. Even so, it attracted attention. Anyone who spoke Spanish fluently still got away with it. Whoever did it with an accent there had to admit that they were Portuguese and saw entry blocked, as A BOLA testified. Despite the official ban on ticket sales to Portuguese fans, those A BOLA spoke to in Bilbao had no problems finding tickets, some on the black market, others even through official channels. Sporting were prevented by UEFA from selling tickets for the game in Bilbao, and formally from having fans at the stadium, as a result of poor public behavior during their last trip to the UEFA Champions League, to Munich, to face Bayern. Due to the throwing of objects and the deflagration and throwing of pyrotechnics at the Allianz Arena, UEFA applied the punishment that it had determined a year earlier (with a two-year suspended sentence), after the use of pyrotechnics during the visit to Belgium, for the match with Club Brugge. The Lions were also fined 30 thousand euros and received another punishment in which they are prevented from selling tickets to fans for games outside UEFA competitions, again with the sentence suspended for two years, but which will be executed if problems arise again during that period. Initially, according to what A BOLA found, some fans still managed to buy tickets for San Mamés intended for the general public, but shortly after UEFA's sanction, Athletic Bilbao excluded sales to Portuguese fans. Sporting, last week, warned in a statement that Athletic had warned that it would prevent Lions fans from accessing the stadium, even if they were in possession of legally purchased tickets. «It was communicated by the host club that, in accordance with legislation and local authorities, any Sporting fan who purchases a ticket on their own may be refused entry to the stadium. If there are Sporting fans present [no interior do estádio]these can be removed and sanctioned, without the right to any compensation», warned the Alvalade club.