This past thursday, I went to a soccer game between Madrid's Atletico and Scotland's Celtics. I have been to one other European soccer match before when I was studying in Florence in January, but Florence has a very bad team, so it wasn't a great game and there wasn't as big of a following as there was here in Spain. Atletico is thought of as a less important team, after the more prominent Real Madrid, which is considered the best team in Europe. Atletico still has a huge following however, and it more the team of the working class, whereas Real Madrid is more of a white-collar team.
The game started at 9 pm, but the pre-game festivities started much earlier. The bars and streets surrounding the immense stadium were packed full of fans dressed in all red, white, and blue. Everyone was drinking beer and singing team songs, and chanting for a win. It was definitely a cultural experience to be a part of the pre-game party and learn the team chants. There was a sense that the team pride was more important than the win itself.
We headed into the stadium right before the start of the game, and found our seats high up in the nose bleeds section of the stadium. Something interesting about Spanish soccer stadiums, is that they don't serve alcohol. Which is really interesting because alcohol is considered a big part of attending sporting events in the states. Here, the fans are so rowdy, that serving alcohol at stadiums causes huge riots and is too dangerous a risk. The game resulted in a 2-0 win for Atletico! So we went out and celebrated the win just like the rest of Madrid: in the bars. It was a really fun night, and a great cultural experience to hang out and celebrate with real fans and locals.
My friends Cecily, Tallia, Christene and I
Kaity enjoying a post-game beer... or two.
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