The Bean Leaves for Madrid!: Real Madrid vs. Malaga

Alright, so here is probably my favorite and most exciting post so far! (sorry ambassador!)

Sunday, nine of us purchased tickets to go see Real Madrid play Malaga at their home stadium, Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, in Madrid!! This stadium was enormous and located right in the middle of the city!

Now I must comment on the efficiency of this building. First of all, it has its own stop on the metro and the city runs extra trains on the line during game days. Therefore, nearly everyone takes the metro to the game, causing little to no traffic. When you enter the building, all outside drinks and food are allowed inside except for liquor. The only hassle is all bottle caps must be removed from beverages before entering the stadium. Because most items are allowed inside, bag checks are minimal and people flow very quickly into the stadium. Gillette could learn a thing or two from this! We were in our seats within ten minutes of exiting the train! And after the game, we were home within the hour by the metro.

Another thing to mention about the stadium...All beer inside the stadium is nonalcoholic. Of course, this being the combination of the World Series, the Superbowl, and the NBA finals all in one and the drinking age being eighteen, I believe this is a rather intelligent decision by the owners. Also, because of the meal times in Spain, only light food is sold inside such as peanuts and chips.

So the game. It just so happened that this Sunday was a league game...meaning Cristiano Ronaldo was playing! And trust me, he did not let us down. He definitely stuck true to his critics, making over dramatic falls and rolling around on the field in "agony" (he even sprawled out as though making a snow angel). He was quite the entertainer! However, there was also something to be said about his soccer, or futbol i should say. Ronaldo also scored the only two goals of the game, gaining a W for the home team!

Shockingly, he also received a red card during the middle of the second half for hitting another player in the face and breaking his nose!! The details...

Cristiano had the ball and was making his way down the field, while an opponent was attacking him from behind. As is common in European futbol, the Malaga player was tugging on Ronaldo's shirt. In attempts to get the player off his back and let go of his shirt, Ronaldo swung his arm behind him. Unfortunately, the Malaga player had his head downwards watching the ball and received Ronaldo's arm to the face. With just enough force, the Malaga player was down for the count with a broken nose.

Now, usually a red cards means a player is out for the rest of that game, as well as the following league game. However, the big controversy here in Madrid and the reason this game has been headline news all week is, because the injury was so severe, they are making Cristiano Ronaldo's suspension two league games rather than one! People have been up in arms over this decision, often comparing this to a similar situation with Messi a while back who only received a one game suspension. The funniest commentary I was told from a fellow student was one of the coaches stated that refs should be more lenient towards the certain players who provide a large portion of the entertainment! haha

Even though we had nosebleeds seats (no pun intended), we could not have been happier with our game selection! This was definitely the game to see of the season thus far! =)

Corner Kick