Trip to Rotterdam

Second-to-last match of the Champions League group stage, and it was Feyenoord from Rotterdam’s turn. Back in August, when the draw was made and Feyenoord came up, I thought this would be a good trip. I had been to the Netherlands before, sure, but never to Rotterdam.

Said and done. The three of us, Javi, Edu, and me, were on our way, and as always, I had the longest journey. It’s the drawback of living in Paradise. The journey started on Friday after work, with a stop in Madrid to catch my Atleti in the league against Mallorca. Javi, who lives in Germany near the Dutch border, was driving, and Edu was flying from Barcelona to Amsterdam. I decided to fly to Germany and go by car with Javi.

On Tuesday morning, I began the journey. About two and a half hours to The Hague. Yes, The Hague, not Rotterdam or Amsterdam, because Edu had decided that it would be a good idea to visit The Hague. We parked the car and took a quick tour of The Hague. Then we continued the trip to Rotterdam. We arrived at the hotel, quick check-in, change of clothes, and off we went.

The meeting point for Atleti fans was a 10-minute walk from the hotel. First, a quick beer at the hotel, and then we headed out. The meeting point, the “Oude Haven,” was packed with Atleti fans singing, cheering (and drinking). There were about 2 hours left before the march to the stadium, enough time to visit one of the coffee shops in the city. My buddies weren’t into that, so I went alone.

At 6:30, we finally started the march to the stadium. Sure, there was also a special train, but an away game in the Champions League without the walk just isn’t the same. Defying the rain and cold, we set off. It lasted about an hour, all good vibes with the accompanying police, singing, cheering, you know, the usual. As I said, aside from the rain and cold, it was one of the best walks I’ve had in my many travels. The entrance to the stadium was the same. Quick, no problems, and all relaxed.

Once inside the stadium, I ran into Edu and Javi, whom I had lost during the walk. The ceremony began, with the stadium already full—first the anthem of the home team, then the Champions League anthem, and done. Atleti started well, and we in the stands too. Like many times before, today it seemed like the home team was Atleti. The 1,500 of us didn’t stop cheering. The Feyenoord fans, on the other hand, nothing.

After 15 minutes, the first goal—a bit weird, a cross into the area, no one seemed to reach the ball except a Dutch defender who diverted it into the goal. 15 minutes, 0-1, it could go on like this. With 0-1, we went into halftime; not much happened in the first half. The second half began, and at 12 minutes, the best part of the game. A real beauty of a goal by Mario Hermoso. You don’t really know what he intended, supposedly a cross, but it turned out to be a perfect lob. Over the goalkeeper and into the goal. 0-2, perfect.

From 0-2, Feyenoord woke up a bit more. 20 minutes later, what had to happen happened—the 1-2 by Feyenoord. There were still 15 minutes left, and I think I wasn’t the only one thinking, “let’s see…”. But then another Feyenoord player decided he also wanted to score, and he did it into his own goal. 1-3 and endure 10 more minutes. The away fans went crazy, celebrating the victory. The players didn’t disappoint; they came to our area, greeted us, and sang with us.

After the game, as always, we had to wait for about half an hour until they let us out. The exit was actually slower and thicker than the entrance, but everyone was happy to see that a train was waiting for us to take us to the central station. Arriving at the station, already tired (and some “happier” than others), we bought something to eat and happily went to bed.

The next morning, or rather, after a few hours, Javi and I had to get up. Edu had the day off, and his flight was at noon, so he stayed sleeping comfortably. Since Javi had to work that day, we left early, around 7 in the morning, not without grabbing a coffee on the way.

All in all, a very good, fun trip with a victory. Thanks to everyone, and until the next game in the round of 16. Let’s see who it will be.

• trip