Real Madrid

Ground: Estadio Santiago Bernabéu

Visits: 2 (1 for Real Madrid match)

Date: 18th November 2007

Match: Spain - Sweden 3-0 (EURO 2008 qualifier)

Attendance: 75 000

Date: 16th February 2020

Match: Real Madrid - Celta Vigo 2-2 (Primera División)

Attendance: 62 477

Report (Real Madrid v Celta Vigo)

In 2007 I visited Estadio Santiago Bernabéu for the EURO 2008 qualifier between Spain and Sweden. A few years ago I did the stadium tour but until today I haven´t been to a Real Madrid home game. Tickets for Real Madrid home games normally go on sale the previous Monday and the game against Celta Vigo was no exception. Going through the seating plan, not to mention prices, I bought a seat in the 4th tier of the North Stand. Tickets for the side stands were between 80 and 150 Euros! As I found my seat I started to chat with my seat neighbor and he was actually an Atletico Madrid supporter. Tonight was his first visit to Santiago Bernabéu and the reason for his visit was his nephew who was a Real Madrid supporter.

Real Madrid are top of La Liga and with Celta Vigo involved in the relegation battler I expected an easy ride for the home team. That was not to be the case though. Celta Vigo scored early on and at half-time it was 0-1, a major surprise on the cards. Toni Kroos and a Sergio Ramos penalty made it 2-1 for Real Madrid but with only a few minutes to go Celta Vigo equalized. 2-1 and not at all what home fans had been hoping for. At 23.15 I was back at my hotel and tomorrow I, via Brussels, fly back home. 11/20 in La Liga and 20 grounds in total are now my numbers for Spain. I still haven´t been to Camp Nou though!

Report (Spain v Sweden)

Since I was unable to get time off work I travelled down to Madrid early on Saturday morning, knowing it would be a long day (10pm kick-off). Everything went as planned and I was at my hotel by 3pm. I had booked the nearest hotel to the Bernabéu I had found and after some rest I went down to the ground to take some pictures of the outside. To my huge surprise I noticed that they did Stadium Tours until 5 pm ! In I went and the first stop was a panoramic view and the ground was truly breathtaking. You did the tour without a guide, there was a route which you followed (only the dressing-rooms were closed off from the normal tour) and it was very weird to be pitchside by the tunnel five hours before kick-off. The ground was in better condition than I expected and I fully enjoyed the experience this famous ground.

After watching Scotland lose out to Italy I headed towards the ground again and found my seat in the fourth tier (out of five). Unfortunately there was a net to ”secure” the away fans and it made my picture taking a bit more difficult. The less said about the match the better but as I said afterwards "The ground was better than the match"!