Spain 2024-Valencia-Gameday

Our first night in Valencia, we planned to attend a Valencia CF football game. The team was playing Alaves FC from the north of Spain. Both teams were solidly in the middle of the league rankings. I thought that would mean it would be easy to score a ticket, but getting two seats together was a real challenge. Just a few days before the match, a block of seats magically opened at mid-field just three rows back. We were in.

Just like Porto FC, the stadium is right in a neighborhood, and isn't surrounded with a sea of parking. Our little mix-up meant our hotel was practically in the shadow of the stadium.

In Palma, we had learned the importance of the bat in Catalan culture. It was no surprise that the stadium boasted a magnificent specimen.

We wandered over through a tailgating throng. There's no beer sold in the stadium, so we passed a few cafes where fans were casually topping up. Spanish drinking culture is controlled and mild and we didn't see anyone drunk.

Our tickets required entry at a specific door. We found it and were in some very cheap orange seats right at the edge of play. Here's what the team's PR department has to say about Mestalla, the stadium:

The prestigious British newspaper 'The Telegraph' published a special report in their sports section about the 20 greatest grounds in European football when FC Barcelona announced their intention to revamp their ground for the 2020/21 campaign. Mestalla was ranked second. ‘The Telegraph’ describes the stadium by saying: ”The steepest stands of any major ground in Europe still take your breath away, even if you have seen them a thousand times”.

To our left behind the goal was our team's "ultra" fan area. These fans kept up an unceasing drumbeat for the entire game, waving flags, singing songs, chanting, bouncing the stands. No room for a low-energy persona there.

To our right, high the the upper deck was a section for the opposition fans. The attitude was, let's see how passionate they are after roasting in full sun with the field just a speck down below.

The players were on the field warming up. Some were goofing around while others were more serious. The casual athleticism was high. Think about how a basketball point guard will effortlessly pass the ball between their legs while bringing a ball up court. Here, that was represented by two players casually rifling 20 yard lasers at each other which would be brought under control with a flourish.

The field was a gleaming emerald perfection. The final piece to get it ready for play was a three minute dousing with in-field sprinklers.

When the game began, the intensity was extremely high. There was more pushing and shoving than I expected. The stereotype of European soccer is of comical exaggeration of any foul and we saw lots of that too. Players went down in absolute simulated agony. Spinning, rolling, pounding the grass, tears; "can we save the leg, doc?"

In the 68th minute, Valencia had an embarrassing defensive breakdown and the Alvares blues scored on what looked like a tap in from our seats.

Our cheering section kept up a steady, energetic drumbeat of chants.

In the 73rd minute it seemed we had scored an equalizer but a ticky-tac offsides foul negated the score.

The crowd turned sour. Every call that went against Valencia brought a chorus of angry whistles. Alaves players feigning injuries brought cries of "puta! puta!". Now, I'm not sure if those players were, as the crowd insisted, "f#!^%@ b!tches", but they may have been.

The ref tried to redeem himself by providing a full 8 minutes of extra time, but even this wasn't enough to salvage a tie.

The players hugged it out and the Alvares blues went to salute their corner of the stadium. While the passion during the game was real, when it was over even the Valencia CF fans seemed to agree that it was a pretty good time.