Madrid braced for hostile Copa Libertadores final as real fans miss out

Madrid hosts the Copa Libertadores final second leg after tie was moved from Argentina following violence
EPA/Eduardo Oyana
Ben Hayward7 December 2018

Madrid is gearing up for the grand final. The Santiago Bernabeu has hosted World Cup, European Championship and Champions League showpieces in the past, but Sunday’s Copa Libertadores clash between River Plate and Boca Juniors will be unlike any other match played at this famous stadium.

Real Madrid’s Copa del Rey clash at home to Melilla on Thursday is now out of the way and security is being tightened up around the Bernabeu, with iron fences erected around the car park in front of the stadium.

Spanish police have been working with their Argentine counterparts ahead of the game and one of the leaders of Boca’s barra brava (the ‘ultra’ or violent fans), has been deported after he was detected upon arrival at Madrid’s Barajas airport.

Spanish police are closely monitoring the airport, as well as major roads, bus and train stations and the Madrid metro for any bad behaviour amid an influx of thousands of supporters ahead of Sunday’s game.

The police expect that somewhere between 400 and 500 violent fans will be present in the Spanish capital this weekend.

Special measures are in place around the stadium and on Sunday, nobody without an accreditation or a match ticket will even be allowed to access the environs of the Bernabeu.

Tight security is employed on ‘high-risk’ match nights at Real Madrid’s ground, such as the group game at home to Legia Warsaw in October 2016.

Madrid security

 

Media accreditation for Sunday’s final includes an emergency prevention plan.

What to do if:

  • There is excessive smoke
  • Your clothes catch fire
  • You find a wounded person
  • There is imminent danger
  • Stadium needs to be evacuated

Then, the Polish ultras were all sectioned off into one area by the Spanish police and mostly did not mix with the home fans. There were still some skirmishes, however, and this time the concern is that there will be violent supporters from both sides – two teams that are also fierce and bitter rivals.

Media accreditation includes a leaflet on emergency prevention, detailing what to do “in case of excessive smoke” from flares, “if your clothes catch fire”, if there is “imminent danger”, “if you find a wounded person” and “if the stadium needs to be evacuated”.

This is no normal match, and yet unlike in Argentina, fans of both clubs will be allowed inside the stadium and with tickets being resold online and in the streets for anywhere up to €6,000, there will be a mix of River and Boca supporters in the some stands.

In Argentina, away fans have been banned from the big matches since 2013, the most violent year in its football history, when 14 lost their lives due to violence in and around stadiums.

Photo: AFP/Getty Images
AFP/Getty Images

That same year, Real Madrid president Florentino Perez (above) ejected the Ultras Sur from the Santiago Bernabeu, following the steps taken by Barcelona and other clubs to remove violent, trouble-making fans from the stadiums.

"The Copa Libertadores de America was named after the men who secured freedom for the continent from Spain’s colonial rule and ironically, its final is to be played in Madrid."

In any case, problems with those supporters were nothing like the ones in Argentina, where the barras bravas are effectively criminal cartels making money out of violence and delinquency around the stadium on match days in particular.

Spanish police, stadium stewards and all the security staff in Madrid are not accustomed to that type of threat and there are fears that they will be unable to cope.

Meanwhile, many bars and restaurants around the Bernabeu (below) have decided to close well before the game on Sunday or to not open at all amid safety concerns.

Photo: AFP/Getty Images/Gerard Julien
AFP/Getty Images/Gerard Julien

But while hordes of violent fans have travelled to the game and South American’s football’s bigwigs will all be present at the Bernabeu on Sunday, it is the normal supporters who are the losers in all of this.

This two-legged final has been denied its second game in Buenos Aires due to the bad behaviour of a few and the incompetence of the Argentine authorities in protecting the Boca bus on its way to the stadium for the return leg (after the two teams drew 2-2 at La Bombonera), which was eventually suspended and later rearranged to take place in Madrid on Sunday.

With an average wage of just over €400 per month in Argentina, the average fan has been priced out of a match which should have been played at River’s Estadio Monumental.

Plane ticket prices soon soared to well over €1,000 one way when it was confirmed the second leg would take place in Madrid, while even the most modest hotels and hostels were soon listing their rooms for anywhere between €200 and €2,000 in the days around the game.

Photo: EPA/Juan Ignacio Roncoroni
EPA/Juan Ignacio Roncoroni

Argentine and South American football has been stripped of its foremost fixture. The Copa Libertadores de America was named after the men who secured freedom for the continent from Spain’s colonial rule and ironically, its final is to be played in Madrid.

Ultimately, moving the match to the Spanish capital gave South America’s football federation, CONMEBOL, a business opportunity which is expected to bring in around €10 million to the organisation, with an estimated €42m boost to the city of Madrid.

For the real fans in Argentina, however, the cost could be far greater. Their big party has been taken away from them and the switch to the Bernabeu also sets a dangerous precedent for big games to be played overseas in future, while the threat of violence is arguably just as prevalent as if the fixture had been played in Buenos Aires this weekend.

After everything that has happened in this saga so far, there is unlikely be a happy ending to this mess on Sunday.

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