Europa League: Levski Sofia at Villareal

For the second time in a week, I attended a soccer match at Villareal. Last Sunday was for a La Liga match. Last night was for Villareal’s opening match in the Europa League versus Levski Sofia.

Parking at Villareal
With the Ultimate Sports Wife with me and torrential rains falling, I dropped off Nicole at the box office before I parked on the street. As was the case Sunday, I parked a few blocks from the stadium.

Obtaining Tickets
Once again, I bought tickets in the visitors section for the match – 30 euros versus 40 euros in the Villareal section. Since it was raining, I did not want to buy tickets from a season ticket holder and risk sitting under the open skies. Also I figured if Mallorca’s fans did not travel on a Sunday, then Levski Sofia’s fans would not travel on a Thursday even for a Europa League match. My assumption was correct. However, there were more away fans at this match than Sunday’s match.

Pre Game Bar
Before the game, we made our way around to the visitor’s entrance and stopped in at Bar El Submarino De La Bruja – directly next to the visitor’s entrance. The rain stopped when we needed to enter the stadium.

Estadio El Madrigal
Estadio El Madrigal is nothing special – especially the visitors section. They have one concession stand to buy drinks and snacks (remember no alcoholic beverages sold in stadiums in Spain). The stadium is smaller than the Mestalla in Spain which is probably why their lowest ticket price is higher.

The Game
Once again it rained for most of the match but the players could pass the ball across the field without it stopping immediately. Villareal won their opening match of the Europa League 1-0. Sofia fans seemed happy for a 0-0 draw but Nilmar scored in the 72nd minute.

Spanish La Liga: Mallorca at Villareal

After taking a weekend off for World Cup qualifying matches, Spain’s first division was back in action this weekend. The closest match to where we are staying was in Villareal last night – a 2.5 hour drive from Benimassot.

Parking in Villareal
As with the other Spanish soccer matches I have attended, cars appeared to park anywhere around the stadium. However, this time there was not enough room on the street for cars to double park or enough room on the sidewalk for cars to park there. I parked on the street a few blocks from the stadium.

Obtaining Tickets
I arrived at Estadio el Madrigal about an hour before kickoff. There was nobody selling their extra tickets at that time, so I bought the cheapest ticket from the ticket office – 25 euros for a seat in the visitors section. The next price point was 50 euros which I thought was way too expensive.

My other option was to wait for a second ticket holder who had a season ticket holder card (similar to a credit card that allows the season ticket holder into all matches for the team) and buy their “extra” ticket. However, with this strategy you would need to enter the stadium with the season ticket holder, since there technically is no ticket, rather than enter the stadium on your own time.

Pre Game Dining
The area around Estadio el Madrigal is nothing special. There are a few bars visible from the stadium to buy a drink and some food. However, I found a better area than a smoked filled bar for pre-game dining – an open air area that has about 10 stands serving food and drinks. It appeared to have a better atmosphere.

Visitors Section
The “visiting” section (for those who are not familiar with European stadiums) is the section where the visiting team’s fans are allowed to sit. Visiting team’s fans buy tickets through their team and then are banned to one section of the opposing team’s stadium. The Europeans separate the home team fans and the visiting fans in order to avoid any conflicts that might occur if they were to sit together. It has its positives and negatives.

Yesterday, since the visiting team was Mallorca there were no visiting fans in the section – although there were enough police officers. During the first half of the game there were about 35-40 people sitting in the visitors section – almost a one to one ratio to the number of police in the section. It appeared everyone sitting in the section was a tourist that did not want to pay at least 50 euros to sit in the other sections.

The Weather
The best part of the visitor’s section at Villareal is that it is completely enclosed – meaning it has a roof and a fence around the entire area. The other parts of the stadium are not enclosed and a roof only covers part of each seating area.

At the start of the first half it was partly cloudy. However, as the half progressed you could hear thunder and see flashes of lightning approaching the stadium. This is where buying a ticket in the visitors section at Villareal had its perks.

By the end of the first half it was raining hard and thunder and lightning were hovering around the stadium. If this was an NFL game, I believe they would have delayed the game due to lightning. However, this was a La Liga match and play continued as scheduled.

Halftime is where the real excitement began – torrential down pours. It rained so hard that even though I was sitting 10 rows from the front of the section, it was still raining on me. I moved back about 10 rows to an area that was dry – technically indoors! Of course, I had left my jacket and umbrella in the car since when I arrived; it was only partly cloudy and warm.

Minutes before the second half began; the public address announcer stated that all fans could sit in the visitors section for the second half since it appeared there was no end in sight to the rain. Our peaceful section of 35-40 people now became a packed and rabid section of Villareal fans. I do not believe there was an empty seat in the area as fans were also standing everywhere. Of course, the torrential rains stopped just before the second half began, but the rains still came throughout the second half.

After the halftime rains, the pitch essentially became a puddle for the second half. Every time a player would take a step, a splash of water would appear from the field. Players who tried to pass the ball along the grass would gesture in frustration as the ball would stop about 3 feet from where they had tried to pass. I wondered if the referee would do anything but the game continued without delay.

The Game
Even though the pitch was completely water logged during the second half both teams managed to score. Villareal’s Giuseppe Rossi scored in the 53rd minute after Mallorca goalkeeper Dudu Aouate slipped (because of the puddles) in the penalty box leaving an open goal.

Mallorca’s Borja Valero equalized in the 74th minute with a free-kick 25 yards out. Villareal and Mallorca tied 1-1.