‘Madridmania’ in the US: Rose Bowl Stadium sells out for Real Madrid vs AC Milan

For Real Madrid, playing in Los Angeles is playing at home. Ever since the club arrived in the US, they have been mobbed in every location. At their hotel in Beverly Hills, fans were waiting, but at UCLA is was another level of crazy: of course, in terms of number, but mainly noise.

“It’s incredible today how the people have supported the team”, said the surprised club worker after watching over 100 people looking for a signature or a photo with their idols. In both the morning and evening session, the names of Vini Jr, Bellingham, Modric, Rodrygo and co. have been the birdsong coming from the air as the golf carts whizz past carrying the stars to the training ground.

But the icing on the cake is coming: Real Madrid will take on AC Milan in Los Angeles at the Rose Bowl, which is expected to be full to the brim.

‘I wanted to buy the best seats possible... I don’t care about the price’

The high prices have not stopped the 95,542 fans from attending the stadium which was declared a historical monument. In fact, the stadium will end up being too small: “I tried to get tickets and I couldn’t, it was too late. I’ll go to the stadium anyway and enjoy the atmosphere. Last year was the same, it was full and lots of people ended up not going” one fan confessed to AS while at the training session.

One person who did get a ticket was Madrid fan, Cedrick Alonso, who told AS that he “paid $1,500 to take my two kids and I watch the game. They are not the tickets that the fan groups get from the club, I wanted to buy the best seats possible. We are going to be behind the bench, right next to Ancelotti. I wanted my kids to enjoy the experience to the max and I don’t care about the price”, said Cedrik who is not an ordinary Madridista, but the President of the Peña Sur de California fan group.

Fifty-five members form the group that was founded in 2013 and has recently seen a dip in numbers, with Cedrick saying “the pandemic was difficult”. After various ups and downs, this official fan group resurfaced and now it has the people and the backing to organise events pre-game ahead of the Milan clash.

The party continues with more Madrid peñas

A tailgate is a party that is held from the backs of various cars, where grilled meat is the typical food, will be had along with drinks, music, games and prize draws. They will do so with other California-based Madrid fan groups, inclusing Fresno, NorCal and Madridistas Inmortales.

The game will not be the only event that the Rose Bowl will hold, as the Peña Madridista Los Ángeles with its 200 members and 1000 affiliates, are organising their own event that was a huge success last year and that their president, Stewart Wolfenson, wants to replicate and beat this time around.

Madrid fans to fill Rose Bowl stadium

Fan groups from Chicago and Providence have already set off on their journeys to Los Angeles to take part in the celebrations and will not stop until the whole stadium is full of Madrid shirts. Neither team are playing at home, but Madrid are winning the fan game by a landslide victory.

“What time is tomorrow’s training? Will there be an afternoon session? Will the players stop to sign? It’s for my children...” These are some of the most common things heard on social media directed at journalists who will be at the sessions organised by Carlo Ancelotti. The feeling of being a Madridista is in full flow in California, made firm and immovable by the large South American population who have turned Miami into a bilingual city, where Spanglish dominates. Madridmania has taken over LA and the climax of the party is almost upon us.