Classic defeat

Do you still remember what a shortage is? Not in an economic sense, such as "budget deficit", but in household? Honestly, I almost forgot. But he is, and this even wants to rejoice, repeating Arkady Raikin behind the character of the interludes: “Let everything be, but let something lack something.”

There were no. Tickets for the match. It is stupid to recall the accreditation. All deadlines came as much as October 1. But about the tickets-even with an overpayment, albeit with a shit, it was impossible not to dream. Having the same friend in Madrid-and not some, but the journalist of the most influential sports publication of the “brand”. On Wednesday, I work at the Champions League match in Madrid, the day before - in Barcelona. In the end, this is not the best preparation for the commentator - to see a full -time game the day before. Great game. For in the calendar of European national championships there is no match more important and longest than Clashiko.

“I will try,” says Juan. - So far I have no ticket. Five accreditation was issued to the editorial office, and in September it was clear who they would get. But I want to go. And then friends from all over Spain call, they say, we leave, get tickets ... ”We talked with him a week before the match ...

On Saturday from the airport - immediately to the "Mark". Juan meets with a crowd of acquaintances. “This is Thomas from Seville,” represents one. - Today they have a derby, but he still came to Clasico. This is Jose and Rodrigo, they are from Malaga. We are waiting for Pablo, he is from Pamplona, their team is also here, he is in a hotel. ” “Well? ..” I ask, feeling an approaching resentment. "All with tickets?" - "Not yet. But all channels work. I got two tickets through Roberto Carlos, we have a good relationship with him. So far, let's dinner. Only for Pablo will come in. "

The modest (by the standards of a professional European club) of a four-star hotel is a bright red bus “Atletico Osasuna Club”. The pamplons did not come to the classic to stroke, of course. Today they play with Hetafe, a newcomer examples from the Madrid suburbs. By the way, a good match. "Osasuna" is the leader of the championship. Two points more than that of Barcelona, three than that of Real Madrid. And Hetafe three more rounds flashed on the same line of the table. At the same time, the grads have only one week of leadership for two. Barca did not go the first in this championship in general, and Real Madrid dropped a few rounds back a moment.

In a spacious hall, a home atmosphere. Players "Osasuna" chat with reporters, without checking, of course, certificates. So the fans here are also at least - from a dozen. “There is Pablo,” says Juan. - Waldo is talking. Let's go, introduce it. " While I think who the comrade had in mind, we find ourselves nearby. “A journalist from Russia,” Juan introduces me to a guy in a red training suit. “I came specifically for your match.” The people giggle.

Waldo is a famous figure. The pupil of Real Madrid, who flashed once and as part of the main team. Well, a journalist, then a journalist. I will work.

- Do you have time for a classic? - I ask.

“We play six,” Valdo replies. “They are eight.” So the first half, probably, we will watch on the bus. And on the second - back to the hotel. So decided. We will watch, go to the pamplon.

- Will you watch Clasico as a classic or as a match of two teams that are next to you in the table?

- Like a classic, of course.

- Because do not really believe in your leadership? ..

- No, because classic is a classic.

- But still, about leadership ...

- Of course, everything is clear. We recently played with Barcelona, where there are 0: 3, no chance. But the championship is not one match and the most important thing in it is a table. If we are now leading, then deserved. It will be seen there. If today we do not lose, we will remain the first.

- For whom to root for, it is probably stupid to ask.

- After all, I am from the “Kanters” of Real Madrid, although Barca is very strong today ... Well, how will you come to our match?

And, in fact, why not. There, they write in the newspapers, “Real”-“Barcelona” will see some huge millions on so many TV channels there. And "Hetafe" - "Osasun"? This is a match with the participation of a leader ... We are pushing into the Juan car and go dining. To the street neighboring from Santiago Bernabeu. Including to park in advance. “So, Juan, -

I say, chewing some extremely tasty sea reptile. - Keep me in the know. After lunch I will go to Hetafe, then I will return to Santiago Bernabeu. Yes, by the way, do you never go to the stadium for two tickets for two tickets? ”

The question puts the Spaniards into a dead end. It turns out that they did not go. “It will not work,” Juan answers, reflecting. - There is electronic control. You leave the stadium, break through the ticket, as it were, back. I can’t put a few tickets to the turnstile ... ”“ Okay, ”I say,“ thanks for the treat. Let your channels work for now. Let's call. "

Before Hetafe - 15 minutes by taxi. A clean-five-five-navigable suburb, in a prominent place the brand new stadium for 15 thousand. Formalities take a minute. Juan agreed with a colleague who went to describe the match; We meet at the entrance to the press, he holds out a pass with the question: "Do you regret that the world championship did not get?" Now I'm at a dead end. To regret that you rightly did not belong, somehow strange. But abroad about their own - only good or nothing. This is my rule. “Young is a very team,” I answer. - Not yet ready. It's OK". We climb the rostrum, meeting mainly elderly Hetafyans and family broods, but not meeting a single controller. Even at the entrance to the fenced sector, allotted for the press and especially important people. In two rows of us, the presidents of Hetafe and Osasuna are sitting side by side of us - it is so customary in Spain.

Florentino Perez and Joan Lapate today on Santiago Bernabeu will also sit nearby. By the way, since the Laporta headed the blue granatovs, the “Barcies” and “Real” are friends are friends with families. On Saturday, Mark is a report on a joint dinner as a spouse. Plus another sixty pages about classic. An avid statistics would be bad from envy. However, there is no time to especially study the past. Unless the line of the results of all Madrid matches stretched to the turn is striking. Since the late 80s, Real Madrid has never won at home twice in a row. And last season it was 4: 2, with a two -time superiority of Barcelona on blows, and Real Madrid - on perfect fouls. The Catalans then had nine breaks of separation and in victory at all costs, of course, did not need. Valdo's rights - there is nothing more important than the table. Now is another matter. The Barca is only a point ahead, besides - it is not a leader yet. She was noticeably staggered at the start, in other words, there is something to prove. And there is something.

Maybe rivals in Spain adapted to the Catalans, as some say. But Barcelona itself does not stand still. Neither Ronaldinho, nor this, nor Deco have yet been saturated with a dish that they learned to cook. Moreover, the next contender for the title of "New Maradona" Leo Messi. And this is just an attack. Meanwhile, the defense and the middle of the field of the team of Frank Raikaard are also stronger. The Dutchman is still rushing about in search of optimal combinations. But the amplitude of its oscillations decreases markedly. There is especially nothing to boast of Real in either sense or in the other sense. His analogue of Messi is a contender for the title of "New Pele" Robinho - so far cheese. Ronaldo, Raul, Zidan take turns tormented by injuries. And nothing changes at all at all. As there was no reliable pair of central defenders, there is no, let the talent of Sergio Ramos purchased from Seville is already appreciated in the national team.

Well, how do we have leadership? With a creak. "Osasuna" plays an exit model, clearly learning the formula "Three points at home, one visiting." True, Hetafe against the background of three defeats in a row also does not look confident in its power, and the game turns out to be boring. Waldo tries, like all his partners-it is not for nothing that Osasuna is said that this is a laborer team. But since the beginning of the second half, almost all the efforts of the guests, including attackers, are reduced to holding zeros on the variegated advertising of the Kolosseum Stadium. I call Huan: "How are you?" - “We got two more tickets. We throw the lots who will remain in the bar. You come, come in-this is opposite the 36th sector. Maybe we will change during the break. ”

From Madrid to Hetafe 15 minutes drive. Back - if you need to get to Santiago Bernabeu, when the classic begins - almost three times longer. The roads leading to the stadium are clogged. Not to mention nearby bars. Finding an unfamiliar person in this bustard is absolutely unrealistic. Especially if you do not know who exactly. And even more so - if he is not there. However, the company is not required. I am entering the bar in the 14th minute. Right in front of the goal that Messi is created and this iso. Thank God, I think, I have not missed anything. The mistake is. I missed, as it turns out in the evening, when they show the resume of the match, a lot. Firstly, I missed the home blanks of Raikaard, whose composition Mark guessed hardly half. Secondly, such different arms of Ronaldino with Ronaldo, who played together for Brazil, and Ronaldinho with this. At first, only a smile remains on Ronaldinho's face - and already huge, at the time of the greeting of a comrade in the national team, she spreads to incredible size. And after a moment, there is no trace of her. Coaring a partner in the upcoming battle, the gutta -player Brazilian turns into a gladiator. He will die today. Or play Real Madrid.

"They do not know how to play their teeth with your teeth!" -A large old man, wrapped in a “creamy” scarf, screams throughout the bar, but it seems that the whole quarter, drowning out the rumble of the 80 thousand-thousandth Inchada, lurking behind the walls of Santiago Bernabeu. A minute ago, Ronaldinho, as if a ski instructor, as if drawing in front of beginners, easily and gracefully passed the half of the Real Madrid and made 2-0 an account lined with limp defenders. During the break, it was not possible to get through to Juan. But now there is a chance to do without his help. Play another half an hour, but from the stadium a thin one, so far, the disappointed fan of Real Madrid was leaning with a trickle. The controllers, and here they are an infinite number of times more than in Hetafe, still in place, but the grip weakened. Yes, and they are not ready here for our home blanks. Without bargaining, I have grabbing the merchant not waiting for the merchant in the bench next to the bar the first scarf and with the words “oh, Christmas tree-firing, I forgot the camera!” I'm going to the turnstile. To the exclamation of “Your ticket! Insert your ticket! " I'm ready. “Yes, I threw it already, damn it. Well, skip the same! ”, And after a second in front of me - the arena flooded with light and gloom.

Half an hour of the living classic is also not bad. Seven years ago, I already happened to be in a great match, here, in Madrid, but this, of course, is not an argument for abandoning a new - even half - possibilities. This is similar to communion - not in a linguistic, of course, meaning. And it doesn’t matter that the battle is already behind. And even the public does not have special doubts about this. “Real” is still trembling, having managed to lose a new trauma to Raul and demonstrating the weak form of Zidan and Ronaldo who just recovered. Santiago Bernabeu still manages to startle in anticipation of a miracle, when Michel Salgado who had played the best partners receives the ball in the penalty area and hits the far corner. But Viktor Waldes beats the ball, covers in a second jump and throws forward, starting a “control” attack. Ronaldinho with the pleasure of a ski instructor, who heard from a beginner the call “well repeat” goes to the gates of Kasilyas, leaves behind Sergio Ramos and makes an account 3: 0. And still hides a smile behind the grimace of complete concentration. Barcelona needs to prove its superiority over the “Real” as much as possible and longer.

Only after the final whistle, exchanging T -shirts with David Beckham and, apparently, having violated the tradition (because the dressing of the Englishman and the Brazilian turned out to be the only one), the Brazilian will begin to smile. With a naked torso, not putting on a white T-shirt, he will, along with his partners, look out in the very corner of the Verkhotchitnaya rostrum a tiny hundredth group of the blue-granite invest. In Spain, it is not customary to go to guest matches with fans, but the most brave traditions do not stop. Perhaps it will not be easy for them to leave the capital. Fan fights here are also not in fashion, but on this occasion, “creamy“ bravas ”, perhaps, are capable of exceptions. The last quarter of an hour, their powerful group, located outside the gates of Kasillas, only does that weakening Doldonite speech with the constant refrain of “Puta, Bars, Put”. In the meantime, the attributes of the gladiatorial shame flash on other stands - white scarves and exclamations are heard, calling for the resignation of Vanderlei Luxembourgo.

... We phoned Juan ten minutes after the match, and after half an hour, leaked thanks to my friend’s driver’s skill through Santiago Bernabeu, we were already sitting in a bar in the center of Madrid, watching the Seville derby. Thomas, for whom this particular match was the main one, in the end did not go to Classico: “Nothing bad - I had other things in Madrid, so I went in vain. The main thing is that our Betis is now given. " By the way, they had given, having played three quarters of the match by ten and a quarter - without two players. So Sevita did not remain in the way. “It's okay” - such was the leitmotif of post -free conversations in Madrid. Even Wanderlei, who was tactlessly asked at a press conference on a possible resignation, stoically answered: “If they say“ leave ”to me, I will close the door and leave. I will not be a professional without work. ”

Madrid, more precisely, “Real”, in fact, is now nothing more to do, except how to operate with different variations of the thesis “Life continues”. Barca caught up with Osusun and - by difference - for the first time led the standings, but the separation of Real Madrid is only four points. And the championship, in fact, has just begun. So Classico - again the rights of Waldo - are more important as an extra -tournament event. The scarce, especially the same, because the last time large blue granate won the Santiago Bernabeu three dozen years ago. But evidence is needed every day. It is Barcelona, which cannot be rested with its today's enchanting game, you cannot lose that very constant grimace of absolute concentration. Which, by the way, does not spoil her face.