Real Madrid are big, big, news in Madrid. The biggest selling newspaper in Spain is Marca. It's a sports paper but everyone knows its a Real paper. Big, BIG news. Whenever they play in the week I can rely on having a lot less students. As they have a Champions League game on Tuesday night (I refuse to acknowledge their opposition) I'm looking forward to a nice easy class.
The stadium is named after Santiago Bernabeu, a former chairman who turned Real Madrid from the second best team in Madrid to the most successful in Europe. He was also a prominent fascist but more on that later. It is an incredible stadium. It's right in the middle to the commercial district, it just emerges from nowhere. Strangely they have a flag from every club in the league flying from the roof, they all still fucking hate you. I've been on the tour and its even more impressive inside, its huge, staggeringly huge. Just when I'm warming to them a little the pomp kicks in and it reminds you just how smug they are. Obviously the main reason I feel like that is that I'm jealous and childish, am I supposed to be impressed by your nine European Championships? Charlton have never, and never will, qualify for the tournament. What a lot of people don't realise is that Real Madrid and Barcelona are not football clubs, they are sports clubs, football is just the most prominent part. So once you have been told that Real were voted team of the century by FIFA, after you've seen the vast number of trophies trophies and you've seen the pictures of some of the best players in football history in their Real shirts, you have to go through the other sports. They are also relentlessly successful in those too, most notably in basketball.
You may have noticed I'm not a huge Real fan. Its not all jealously. I have the same problems I have with them as I do Man Utd. The arrogance, the lack of perspective, the smugness, the reflected glory, the lack of humility, a lot of them know nothing about football and most importantly the HUGE sense of entitlement. Real got beaten at home last night by a midtable side, Sporting Gijon. Did they not know who they were playing? This team came and wanted to win! And they did! How dare they? However the main reason I and lots of people don't like them is the reason mentioned earlier, fascism.
There is a long and clear link between Real Madrid and fascism. The stadium is named after one after all. General Franco was a big Real fan and helped his team whenever he could. Using influence to get players, including Di Stefano the man player who made Madrid the team they are. The most striking incident being a cup game against Barcelona when soldiers went into the Barcelona dressing room and said that it would be in their best interests to lose. They did. Barcelona overstate the influence and the current team are obviously not fascists but it still leaves a nasty taste. Especially as there is a group of fans called the Ultra Surs who are still horribly racist and violent.
Luckily I live in an Atletico part of town. I like Atletico they used to be the biggest team in Madrid and they have a pathological hatred of Real. Unfortunately for them they haven't beaten them since 1999. Real fans joke that Atletico really love them as its a guarenteed six points and Atletico have a very good record against Barcelona. There's a reason Atletico's club anthem is You Can't Always Get What You Want.
The stadium is named after Santiago Bernabeu, a former chairman who turned Real Madrid from the second best team in Madrid to the most successful in Europe. He was also a prominent fascist but more on that later. It is an incredible stadium. It's right in the middle to the commercial district, it just emerges from nowhere. Strangely they have a flag from every club in the league flying from the roof, they all still fucking hate you. I've been on the tour and its even more impressive inside, its huge, staggeringly huge. Just when I'm warming to them a little the pomp kicks in and it reminds you just how smug they are. Obviously the main reason I feel like that is that I'm jealous and childish, am I supposed to be impressed by your nine European Championships? Charlton have never, and never will, qualify for the tournament. What a lot of people don't realise is that Real Madrid and Barcelona are not football clubs, they are sports clubs, football is just the most prominent part. So once you have been told that Real were voted team of the century by FIFA, after you've seen the vast number of trophies trophies and you've seen the pictures of some of the best players in football history in their Real shirts, you have to go through the other sports. They are also relentlessly successful in those too, most notably in basketball.
You may have noticed I'm not a huge Real fan. Its not all jealously. I have the same problems I have with them as I do Man Utd. The arrogance, the lack of perspective, the smugness, the reflected glory, the lack of humility, a lot of them know nothing about football and most importantly the HUGE sense of entitlement. Real got beaten at home last night by a midtable side, Sporting Gijon. Did they not know who they were playing? This team came and wanted to win! And they did! How dare they? However the main reason I and lots of people don't like them is the reason mentioned earlier, fascism.
There is a long and clear link between Real Madrid and fascism. The stadium is named after one after all. General Franco was a big Real fan and helped his team whenever he could. Using influence to get players, including Di Stefano the man player who made Madrid the team they are. The most striking incident being a cup game against Barcelona when soldiers went into the Barcelona dressing room and said that it would be in their best interests to lose. They did. Barcelona overstate the influence and the current team are obviously not fascists but it still leaves a nasty taste. Especially as there is a group of fans called the Ultra Surs who are still horribly racist and violent.
Luckily I live in an Atletico part of town. I like Atletico they used to be the biggest team in Madrid and they have a pathological hatred of Real. Unfortunately for them they haven't beaten them since 1999. Real fans joke that Atletico really love them as its a guarenteed six points and Atletico have a very good record against Barcelona. There's a reason Atletico's club anthem is You Can't Always Get What You Want.
love love love x
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