In December of 2003 a group of eight of us headed to Barcelona for El Classico vs Real Madrid. None of us had tickets.
I can only assume at that time, word was beginning to spread among our mates that anything was possible when it came to accessing the biggest games in Europe. We chose one of those god awful, crack of dawn Easyjet flights from Liverpool and again checked into a hostel. It will become apparent browsing the pages of this blog that these weren’t cultural awakenings of an artistic, architectural or any other kind, just football. We were in our early twenties, we weren’t looking for local cuisine and fine wine, we were looking for an Irish pub and tickets to the match.
On this particular weekend, we at least got the day and time right. We also had a full day before. We actually spent that day mostly away from pubs. We took in some sightseeing and made our way to the Camp Nou for the stadium tour. If you ever get chance/time to do it, I would highly recommend it. Not only do they let you into the dressing rooms, you walk down the famous tunnel with the tiny chapel built into one side. They joke that many prayers are said from the opposition in that chapel. You make your way up onto the side of the pitch and the sheer size of the place and the history that it has witnessed will take your breath way for more than a few seconds.
After leaving the tour, we encountered quite a few discreet touts outside selling for tomorrow’s big game. We had no plan at that point, so with a complete language barrier we managed to purchase at €100 each. It seemed a lot at the time but often in those moments of adrenaline you are so relieved to have an opportunity to own a ticket, you will do whatever it takes. Looking back and considering how much we paid later that season in Madrid, we got somewhat of a bargain.
I imagine the rest of that day/night was spent celebrating the fact we had achieved what we came to do, we had already been inside one of the most spectacular and iconic amphitheaters of global sports and we also had physical tickets for the biggest game on the planet.
Once you have the ticket and are approaching the stadium, you soon realize you have no idea what it says on it or if it’s even genuine. Its nerve wracking and our tickets were scattered across the stadium. Mostly in pairs but I think one of our group actually sat by himself. I remember walking the first pair up to the gates, which seemed quite hi-tech compared with British turnstiles. We watched as the first lad swiped his ticket, a green light appeared and in he went. I think we all actually stood there and cheered in relief.
The game itself is a bit of a blur. The noise created by the Catalans before the game was defending and the colourful paper display stretched an entire side of the gigantic stadium. However the atmosphere during the game was rather muted. This was due to Madrid controlling most of it. This was the golden age of the Galacticos. Figo, Zidane, Beckham, Raul, Roberto Carlos and the original Ronaldo. A goal in each half from those last two Brazilian stars put Madrid firmly in the driving seat for most of the game. A late consolation from Patrick Kluivert and some additional pressure from Barca wasn’t enough and Madrid ran out 2-1 winners. Thoughts now turned to how quickly can we get to Madrid and experience their equally iconic home and can we actually do two Classico’s in the same season?
Barcelona
Valdes, Reiziger, Puyol, Cocu, Gabri (Quaresma), Gerard, Motta (Saviola), Van Bronckhorst, Xavi, Kluivert, Luis Garcia (Overmars). Unused subs; Recber, Lopez, Marquez, Luis Enrique. Coach: Rijkaard
Real Madrid
Casillas, Salgado, Pavon, Bravo, Roberto Carlos, Beckham, Helguera, Figo, Raul (Solari), Zidane, Ronaldo (Portillo). Unused subs; Cesar Sanchez, Gonzalez, Minambres, Cambiasso, Fernandez, Carlos Sanchez. Coach: Queiroz
Goals: Roberto Carlos (36), Ronaldo (73), Kluivert (82)
Attendance: 92,524
Highlights: https://youtu.be/6CKe88H0lQM
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