Real Madrid Fan Quotes

Barcelona fans labor under the touchingly innocent belief that everyone else in the world, apart from Real Madrid and Espanyol fans, is happy to accept that their club is the biggest on earth and quite simply the bees' knees of the whole footballing cosmos.

A handful of individual football stars—not necessarily the most talented, but those boasting good looks, beautiful wives and an animated private life—assumed a role in European public life and popular newspapers hitherto reserved for movie starlets or minor royalty. When David Beckham (an English player of moderate technical gifts but an unsurpassed talent for self-promotion) moved from Manchester United to Real Madrid in 2003, it made headline television news in every member-state of the European Union. Beckham’s embarrassing performance at the European Football Championships in Portugal the following year—the England captain missed two penalties, hastening his country’s ignominious early departure—did little to dampen the enthusiasm of his fans.

The first leg was away at the Bernabeu and Guardiola asked his players to put lots of pressure on the Real defenders. ‘Tackle, tackle, tackle but don’t be reckless! Remember, we’re at home in the second leg.’ The Madrid fans booed Lionel every time he touched the ball. He was used to that. He never stopped running but Real were marking him out of the match. ‘Something has to change!’ Lionel thought. He was getting more and more frustrated with himself. After sixty minutes, the match did change; Madrid’s defender Pepe was sent off for a dangerous tackle. ‘Come on, we’ve got to take advantage of the extra man!’ Carles shouted from defence. The Barcelona pressure was building. Xavi passed to Ibrahim Afellay on the right wing. Ibrahim dribbled into the area and looked up. ‘I’m here!’ Lionel called. He had made a great run in between the centre-backs and he steered the ball into the net.