Part of this cultural immersion included a live fútbol match. I had never been to a professional soccer game and, luckily for me, Real Madrid happened to be hosting a game the same weekend we were scheduled to visit the city. We excitedly bought tickets and entered the cavernous stadium, ready for a dazzling sports experience.
In Spain, fútbol is king. Real Madrid and FC Barcelona are the nation’s two best teams, and both are consistently two of the best teams in the entire world. Spain is also home to arguably the two best players in the entire world: Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, the pair of scoring maestros who meet each year in a rivalry game that is simply known as El Clásico.
Madrid and Barcelona also spend substantially more money on players than any other team in La Liga (the League). Consequently, the race for the crown most years is dominated by these two teams. However, teams like Valencia CF, Sevilla FC and Atlético Madrid have become very competitive in recent years, adding some additional intrigue to the League.
Nevertheless, disparities in spending and the lack of a salary cap continue to be issues which undermine the competitive balance of Europe’s elite soccer associations.
Barcelona and Madrid would not be squaring off during our visit, probably a good thing for us. Tickets for that game would have reached into the hundreds or even thousands of euros. Instead, we were treated to a matchup between the home team Real Madrid and Granada CF.
The foes from Andalusia were no match for Ronaldo and Real Madrid, who treated their thousands of devout supporters to a myriad of beautiful goals. Each time Madrid would bring the ball down the field on the offensive, you could hear and feel the intensity in the stadium rise.
The atmosphere crescendoed with each precise pass, peaking as the attacker mustered a strike toward the net. In the first 45 minutes of play, we were treated to four Real Madrid goals. With each ball that landed in the back of the net, the crowd rose to their feet in a flurry and their roars echoed throughout the walls of the stadium, punctuated by the shout of “GOOOOOL” from the announcer.
When there was a misfire or the Granada goalie made a brilliant save, the sound of 80,000 deflated groans were audible. But when it all came together, the atmosphere was just indescribable. There is a reason they call it “the beautiful game.”
Madrid dominated the flow and tempo of the action, barely giving Granada a chance to gain control of the ball. In the first half, Granada was only able to get off a single shot, which sailed wide of the net.
Leading 4-0 at the start of the second half, Madrid opened with a quick strike to make it 5-0. The score stood for the duration of the game and officially put any chance of redemption out of reach for the visiting team. The last 30 minutes of the contest lacked the energy and excitement of the first hour, but we weren’t complaining.
By the end of the 90 minutes, we had been treated to some dazzling fútbol. A dominant win for the home team, filled with brilliant, if not one-sided, soccer.
