Football may be played eleven against eleven, but the importance of the twelfth man is certainly not to be underestimated. Real Madrid are aware of this. Since the start of the season and their return to the Bernabeu, their legendary stadium under construction since 2019, the Merengue can only note that the enclosure sounds a little hollow. For good reason: of the approximately 81,000 seats usually available, only a little over 50,000 are currently open, with many stands still under construction.
Rediscover the “intimidating effect” of the Bernabeu
According to the daily AS, the Madrid club, anxious to be able to count on all its sporting and extra-sporting weapons to receive PSG, winner 1-0 at the Parc in the first leg, is currently dealing with “architects, engineers and those responsible for the construction of the Bernabeu in order to be able to increase the Bernabeu’s current capacity before the March 9 deadline. Objective: to be able to reach a capacity of 62 to 65,000 seats, i.e. 10,000 supporters more than what Real can currently count on.
These 10,000 seats would essentially be freed up in the lower stands, and in particular the east side stand. According to AS, given the progress of the work, the entire stand should be available for March 9, “which will help Ancelotti’s men, given that these seats are closest to the field and that the players have complained that so far the cheering from the supporters has been coming to them from the first floor, which means that the intimidating effect of the supporters has been very lessened,” says AS.
For Real Madrid, the progress of this work and the release of 10,000 additional places for the reception of PSG will not only have a major sporting stake, but also a significant financial stake. The large-scale works of the new Bernabeu must be completed at the end of 2022, and transform the enclosure into a real modern arena with, in particular, a retractable lawn maintained in the basement of the stadium and an opening roof. Beyond the March 9 stake, Madrid also receives Barça 11 days later, on March 20, for the Classic, the most-watched league match in football. And which will necessarily be experienced more intensely with 10,000 additional people.
