Being aware of the size of Real Madrid and taking a closer look at it are two different things. You can see it even in the players, who, although they know what club they are joining, after a few months they still confess in interviews that they were surprised by the scale of everything that surrounds the club. That every trip, regardless of the destination, is accompanied by a madness they have never experienced before; that crowds of fans are waiting for them everywhere; that they are always at the airport and in front of the hotel; that everything at Real is bigger and more significant; that this club has an aura like few others.
Before the players landed in Warsaw, the fans created a special map with the most important places: on the Vistula – Fan Festival, a place with a big screen and loud music, on Francuska – the gathering point for fans, on Grzybowska – the hotel where the entire delegation from Spain will stay, gate no. 7 of the National Stadium – the place where the coach with the players should enter for the official training. On social media, the fans outlined tactics, where it should be easiest to meet the players and Carlo Ancelotti. The more experienced ones, waiting for autographs on the occasion of Real's recent visits to Poland – with Legia Warsaw in the Champions League with empty stands, or with Shakhtar Donetsk, who played their matches at Łazienkowska as guests – they shared tips with the newcomers. They wrote how it was then. In a word? It was always extremely difficult to get joint photos or signatures.
This time it is no different. The fans, who are sitting on the slope right next to the National Stadium, opposite gate no. 7, admit that access to the players is very limited. “You can see, wave, take a photo from a distance, but that's all,” they say. They say that the fans who took the best seats under the Radisson Collection hotel – right next to the barriers, about a dozen meters from the door – had been gathering there since morning. So they waited for the players for several hours, tracking the flight route on a special application. They were not surprised that the plane landed at Chopin Airport half an hour before the planned 12:40. They estimated when the bus might appear in the center of Warsaw. “With an escort it should be faster,” they convinced each other, staring at Google maps. First, the sounds of police cars could be heard, then a white bus with tinted windows emerged, and then the screams of hundreds of fans could be heard. Kylian Mbappe, who is set to make his Real Madrid debut on Wednesday, didn't even have to score a goal to earn his first round of applause. All he had to do was get off the bus and wave at the crowd.
Journalists and photojournalists who greeted us at the airport the day before Polish volleyball playerswho were returning from Paris with silver medals, compare: – What happened at the airport cannot even be compared to the madness around Real. It was calm with the volleyball players, a handful of people compared to this – says one of them. – I had a problem taking a photo, because when the fans started pushing, when they saw the bus, they didn't look at anything. They would have run me over. I look, and it's mainly girls! Thirteen, fifteen years old. Lots of kids, young people. People moved because the bus pulled up – says another.
Real Madrid begins a new era in history in Warsaw. Kylian Mbappe will fulfill his dream
It will be interesting to see what place Warsaw will have in Real's history after all these years. It just so happens that a new chapter in the club's history may begin in Poland, because after years of effort, disappointments and testing their mutual love, they finally managed to bring Kylian Mbappe. When Real proudly presented him to their fans, over 80,000 people appeared in the stands of the Santiago Bernabeu. Hopes are high, because one of the best footballers is joining the best club in recent years. Although he only returned to training after his vacation last Wednesday, he is expected to play from the first minute at the National Stadium and – in an ideal scenario – win his first trophy. Real is the favorite against Atalanta.
But for now Carlo Ancelotti is racking his brains about how to fit the Frenchman into the team that won the Champions League last season. Because while on paper an attack with Vinicius Jr, Jude Bellingham and Mbappe looks exciting, it doesn't necessarily work well on the pitch. Especially since Toni Kroos is no longer at Real. It's like depriving an orchestra of its conductor. “We have an excellent squad, the best in the world. But we still have to build an excellent team from these players. It's not the same. My vacation was ruined because new players came to us and I had to think about how to fit them all in. It's a big problem! I couldn't rest!” joked Ancelotti.
Atalanta, which ticket to match o The European Super Cup, won by defeating the favored Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League final, will certainly not be without a chance. Ancelotti spoke about this at the press conference. – Gian Piero Gasperini is an excellent coach, a great tactician, so we have a very difficult match ahead of us. We will face a demanding rival, we know their class. But we want to start the season well. It will be very difficult, but it can be very successful. The team looks good. We do not lack motivation, but we lack joint training. We can play a good match – said the Italian.
At the conference, one could also feel the greatness of Real. We have been to this hall of the National Stadium dozens of times – by the way matches the Polish national team, at the presentation of the new coach, during the Polish Cup finals, but we don't recall such crowds. A dozen or so journalists flew in for Real, who write and talk about everything that happens at the club every day. They report on every little thing, mention absolute details, because fans from all over the world want to know everything about the club and live it not only on match day. They are always with Real, they follow it like a shadow. But several dozen more took the trouble to come to Poland because of the expected debut of Mbappe. Such an event interests not only the most ardent fans. We also met journalists from Turkey and Japan. They flew in mainly for Mbappe.
The last question at the press conference concerned Poland and Ancelotti's last visit to Warsaw. At that time, Real played at the Legia stadium with Shakhtar (1:1). “It was a difficult match at a beautiful stadium. We had great support. The fans were with us and were fantastic. I thank them very much for that,” he said.
This is how football is changing. Today, you can have “your own” in Madrid. And you can be moved when they come to visit
By the way, everything that is happening in Warsaw paints a picture of changing football. We stopped rooting for “our own” a long time ago – for clubs from the same street, district, the same city, or even the furthest from the region. Today, “our own” are in Madrid, Barcelona, London, Milan or Paris. Such rooting differs less and less from rooting for local teams. There are only fewer opportunities to meet your favourites, so when they do drop by for a visit, it is easier to get emotional. – In the end, it's about emotions. They are the most important thing in football. I remember our meeting in 2014 during the Champions League final against Atletico Madrid. When Sergio Ramos scored the equaliser in injury time, a frenzy broke out. Some people cried – says Łukasz Gąsiorek, president of Aguila Blanca, the official Real Madrid fans' association in Poland.
– People are really connected to this club. Today, it is not a problem to attend a match in another part of Europe. As an association, we organize about ten trips to Real's league matches, and on top of that, we also organize trips to Champions League matches in other parts of Europe. In Germany, for example, during the recent matches with Union in Berlin and RB in Leipzig, we had a large group from us – he says. – I also saw people who went to Madrid for a match and proposed at the Santiago Bernabeu. This shows how much Real means to them. They connected their history with the history of the club – he adds.
The Aguila Blanca association has around 1,500 members. The number is constantly growing, because the registration period is right around the holidays. – We always have the most applicants around events like matches in Warsaw or Germany. They attract much more than winning the Champions League finals or other successes – says Gąsiorek. The club has awarded the Polish association almost a thousand tickets for the match with Atalanta. – We will be sitting centrally behind the Real goal, we have prepared a special setting. We have been working on it for a long time, so we hope that everything will work out. It is a bit stressful for me – smiles Gąsiorek.
The Real Madrid – Atalanta match starts on Wednesday at 9 p.m. Coverage on Sport.pl.