Joan Laporta, the Barcelona president, used his diplomatic skills yesterday to dampen fears in the Catalan city about the visit from 15,000 Celtic fans for the Champions League first knockout round, second leg encounter on March 4, by describing them as the “the best travelling supporters in the world”.

The high-profile businessman defended the reputation of the Celtic supporters in response to reports that the Barcelona police force are promising a zero tolerance approach to Scottish fans because of the alleged misbehaviour by Rangers supporters when they visited the city in November.

Celtic have twice been to the Nou Camp in the past four years without any public order problems, a point underlined by Laporta yesterday. The Barcelona president will arrive in Glasgow today, along with Frank Rijkaard, the coach, and his players, for tomorrow’s first leg meeting at Celtic Park in the last 16 tie.

“We are also looking forward very much to welcoming Celtic supporters to Barcelona in early March,” Laporta said. “The Celtic supporters are fantastic, in fact the best travelling supporters in the world as we have seen many times. We can assure Celtic supporters that they will receive a very warm welcome when they visit the city.

“I know that Celtic supporters are extremely passionate about their club, a club which I believe, like FC Barcelona, is different. We know that supporters will travel in huge numbers to follow their team, but we also know the great reputation of good behaviour which Celtic fans enjoy and clearly we are looking forward to hosting the Celtic fans in the city once again.

“I know that the city council, the police, Celtic FC and FC Barcelona have been working very closely over a number of weeks to ensure that Celtic’s visit will again be a great success. There will be special arrangements made in the city to ensure that we do all we can to ensure this is the case. We hope all Celtic supporters enjoy their visit to Barcelona.”

Reports last weekend claimed that police were ready to take a tough line with the Celtic fans because of incidents involving their Old Firm rivals. “We had a terrible experience with Rangers — fans were drinking, urinating in public and causing noise,” Paz Molinas, the police commissioner, was quoted as saying.

“It was the worst experience we’ve had in recent years for a game of football. The mayor doesn’t want a repeat. The images in the media didn’t look good and opposition politicians blamed him at the time for being too lenient. We’ve never had to put such measures in place for a match before — but the Rangers experience forced us to. It was a breaking point.”

Celtic have been working closely with Barcelona club officials as well as the city council to ensure that the second leg goes smoothly off the pitch. The major problem will be how to accommodate the thousands of ticketless Celtic fans who will still come to the city.

“In recent years, our fans have travelled to the city and enjoyed tremendous hospitality and a very warm welcome from the Barcelona residents,” Peter Lawwell, the Celtic chief executive, said. “Our fans will be looking to support their team in a positive manner, to respect the city and at the same time make more friends as they always do when they travel.

“We are pleased that our supporters have developed a reputation for excellent behaviour when they travel to matches throughout Europe. In 2003, our fans were awarded the official Fair Play Awards from both Fifa and Uefa in recognition of their excellent conduct at the Uefa Cup final, when 80,000 fans travelled to Seville.”

Laporta is equally enthusiastic about his trip to Celtic Park. The Barcelona president praised the Celtic supporters in March 2004 for honouring the victims of the Madrid bombing when a Uefa Cup tie was played between just 24 hours after the tragedy.

“It will be a real pleasure to visit Celtic Park and feel the atmosphere of a great Champions League night at such a great venue,” Laporta said. “We have very much enjoyed our previous visits to Celtic and I am sure we will do so again. In recent years we have developed an excellent relationship with Celtic, something which we hope to continue.”