PICS from my CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL trip...

[SAtown]

Milan - Athens - Barcelona

Milan

We arrived at Milan (Saturday, May 18) 8 hours later than expected because we were "late" to our 5 am plane Friday morning. So we got to Milan at around 2:30 pm, immediately got our luggage and hopped on a taxi. The driver informed us that Milan always plays at 3 pm on Saturdays, and the airport (Malpensa) was about 25 minutes away from town. We told him to step on it and take us to the hotel, drop off all the shit, and go to San Siro. I bought the camera the day before the trip and didn't charge it, so I didn't even take it with me to the stadium that day (turns out the camera comes partially charged :bang ). We got to San Siro and learned that since it was "Fan Appreciation Day," they moved the game to 6 pm. So we went to the little bar close to the stadium and decided to add a little buzz to the jetlag we already had. No starters played, but it was still pretty packed, and the crowd sang and chanted the usual "Milan! Milan! Milan!" chants. I went the next day again to the stadium to take pics of the impressive stadium...

Stadio San Siro

http://i13.tinypic.com/67i31n5.jpg

http://i18.tinypic.com/66vlnjm.jpg

Me

http://i15.tinypic.com/6b28bax.jpg





Athens

The night before the game, we hung out at the town square, where all the Liverpool fans were. The Milan fans were smart enough to arrive the morning o the game, because the fans of the Reds were fueled up and looking for a fight the night before. I saw a total of about 5 or 6 Milan fans that night, and 1 of them got a bottle broken over his head just for walking by a group of Liverpool fans that were singing "Ra-fa Benitez, Ra-fa Benitez, Ra-Ra-Ra-Rafa Benitez..." to the tune of "Para bailar la bamba."

Anyways, at the game, the fans at the stadium were separated, of course. One side of the stadium was entirely Liverpool fans (the left side on TV), and on the other side, it was 95% Milan fans, but this one little section RIGHT NEXT TO THEM on the upper level was a section of Liverpool fans. That's where I was, in the front row with the balcony in front of me. It was a scary situation because I had on my Gattuso jersey.

My Dad and I at the Milan entrance of the Olympic Stadium.

http://i7.tinypic.com/6310do1.jpg

Milan banners

http://i10.tinypic.com/4p9ao0x.jpg

A view of the empty stadium hours before kick off.

http://i13.tinypic.com/62zap0x.jpg

Satan

http://i18.tinypic.com/6barq88.jpg

Milan warming up

http://i13.tinypic.com/68bmik7.jpg

Milan fans below my section

http://i13.tinypic.com/502wxew.jpg

During the Champions League anthem (sorry about quality)

http://i13.tinypic.com/4kvj9xd.jpg

Kickoff (as you can see, the opposite side was all Liverpool red)

http://i9.tinypic.com/4xwdvth.jpg

Crowd after Inzaghi's 1st goal. (I have vid of the goal itself, but have no idea how to post it. Once I learn how, I will post MANY good vids).

http://i14.tinypic.com/627s6xc.jpg

Crowd after Inzaghi's 2nd goal. (LMAO at the Liverpool fan in the lower left)

http://i19.tinypic.com/6b94xap.jpg

http://i16.tinypic.com/4t8sewp.jpg

http://i17.tinypic.com/4pbqyqq.jpg

Milan champions of Europe

http://i14.tinypic.com/4ypn4ac.jpg

Gattuso

http://i8.tinypic.com/4xpbpk4.jpg

Liverpool fans shocked.

http://i9.tinypic.com/66cqbt4.jpg

[SAtown]

Barcelona

The Barca v. Getafe game wasn't supposed to be played until Sunday, the day that I left Europe. For some reason, the game was moved to Saturday night at 10 pm (some said it was because Ronaldinho plays better on Saturdays). Anyways, with 3 games left in La Liga, Barca and Real Madrid were tied in points, but Real Madrid had the advantage because of the games between them. So basically, this was the most important game of Barca's season. NOT the game in which Ronaldinho gets a fucking RED CARD in the 30th minute or so... but he did. I did take a shit load of pics of him in warmups and stuff, and took the video of him getting ejected. We were sitting 2 FREAKING ROWS up from the bench, at CENTER FIELD. Absolutely amazing...

Camp Nou (Largest soccer stadium in Europe, 3rd largest in the world behind the "Maracana" in Brazil, and "Azteca" in Mexico) Capacity here is over 100,000.

http://i10.tinypic.com/6gohztf.jpg

Barca bus

http://i14.tinypic.com/4k9zscj.jpg

Barca crowd waiting to get in

http://i18.tinypic.com/661og9x.jpg

http://i8.tinypic.com/4qzqtr4.jpg

http://i18.tinypic.com/4or96ch.jpg

My seats

http://i9.tinypic.com/4qia6bn.jpg

Warmups:

Messi

http://i9.tinypic.com/4tsc2t2.jpg

Ronaldinho and Messi

http://i7.tinypic.com/66t0yyx.jpg

http://i14.tinypic.com/4rcpf04.jpg

http://i7.tinypic.com/5yb68ms.jpg

http://i19.tinypic.com/4l8x1jq.jpg

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

Nice pics...I would love to attend a soccer match like that just for the atmosphere.

I don't know a thing about soccer, but truthfully, I've been wanting to learn.

[Ginofan]

awesome pics.

[FromWayDowntown]

They're great pics. I've got to get myself to some matches in Europe in the next few years. It's too great a spectacle to not see it in person.


Nice pics...I would love to attend a soccer match like that just for the atmosphere.

I don't know a thing about soccer, but truthfully, I've been wanting to learn.

It's not hard to learn the basics and, as with anything, once you have the basics, understanding the nuances becomes the trick. I can't seem to commit myself to following European clubs during their domestic seasons and Euro play, but if you choose to do so, the opportunities are definitely there to do it fairly easily these days.

I played the game as a kid and now find myself drawn to it more and more. I can understand why the rest of the world thinks it's such a wonderful game. There's something to be said for the importance of every scoring chance and those precious goals.

[Duncan21]

glad you had a good time.

Liverpool should of won though!

[SAtown]

Liverpool had it coming... They were already singing We've won it 5 times, we've won it 5 ti----------mes, in ISTANBUL, we've won it 5 times. It's only on loan, it's only on lo---------an, in ANCIENT GREECE, we'll take it back home!" But my favorite was (in reference to Istanbul 2005) "3-nil, and ya fucked it up, 3-nil, and ya fucked it up!" chants.

Liverpool fans were WAY too cocky. They were dancing and singing all damn night the night before, about 50,000 or so. They trashed the town square, but were cool to hang out with.

[Duncan21]

liverpool have the best fans in the world, even at full time they were singing you'll never walk alone.

[SAtown]

Most Liverpool fans were very classy when they lost. Before the game, they shook hands with Milan fans, and after they lost, many of them exchanged shirts with Milan fans (like the players do) and hugged them and sang along with the Italians. Great moment

[SAtown]

Samuel Eto'o

http://i7.tinypic.com/4klk1et.jpg

Puyol has BO

http://i7.tinypic.com/4kf2yc4.jpg

Pato (for the Argentinians) Goalie for Getafe

http://i7.tinypic.com/4yq2hlh.jpg

GAMETIME:

http://i15.tinypic.com/52cpb4m.jpg

http://i9.tinypic.com/5436nw7.jpg

http://i17.tinypic.com/506l5p0.jpg

Group Photo

http://i11.tinypic.com/4umxzzc.jpg

http://i14.tinypic.com/6gx8qc8.jpg

Kickoff

http://i9.tinypic.com/627u4ww.jpg

Messi is SICK

http://i13.tinypic.com/67xunlx.jpg

Ronaldinho GOAL

http://i11.tinypic.com/5xo6p86.jpg

Ronaldinho gets RED CARD

http://i18.tinypic.com/4qeez9l.jpg

Frank Rijkaard didn't like it

http://i9.tinypic.com/62oqfpv.jpg

[IX_Equilibrium]

Good stuff, man. Thanks for posting.

[velik_m]

Those were great seats in Nou Camp.

[kingsfan]

Nice pix. I haven't been to a football match in Europe in a long time but we used to have so much fun. I say soccer fans are the best in the world and they're definitely fun to party with.Still say Liverpool should have won though :madrun

[johngateswhiteley]

incredible.

[resistanze]

You are a boss. I hope to watch a Champions League game live sometime in my lifetime.

[NorCal510]

good pics but soccer sucks dick

[SAtown]

good pics but soccer sucks dick

Why even post?

[NorCal510]

Why even post?
Why even bother responding?

[ALVAREZ6]

Awesome pics!


You're lucky as hell to go to all of those stadiums to see great games, I'd love to go see Barcelona at Camp Nou and Milan at that nice ass stadium. Those seats you had in Barcelona were amazing. Bring me next time!

[ALVAREZ6]

SAtown, jsut to get an idea, how much were those tickets for Barcelona and how far in advance did you buy them?

[SAtown]

SAtown, jsut to get an idea, how much were those tickets for Barcelona and how far in advance did you buy them?

Nou Camp wasn't even full, since it holds over 100,000 people. These seats were 110 Euro each, and we got them the day before the game. Availability isn't much of a problem, unless they're playing Real Madrid or a Champions League match. To see (arguably) one the best teams in the world play an important match at the end of the season, it's well worth spending that money for those tix.

[ALVAREZ6]

I definitely want to attend a few of those games in the future. Don't know when though. I graduate from HS next year, and in the summer me and a few friends are goin all over Europe for a couple of weeks. When do those games end in the year?

[SAtown]

The Milan game I went to was the 2nd to last game of the season, and the last home game. The Barca game was 3rd to last of the season, and 2nd to last at home. So I'm guessing most European leagues end towards the end of May/early June. If you wanna watch some European soccer, better go earlier than the summer. There's tons to do in Europe besides soccer, but once you go to a game, you see the sport entirely different.

Oh, and maybe you should same some money and go to Euro 2008. It's in Austria/Switzerland next summer. It's a fact that European national teams take this tournament a lot more seriously than they do the World Cup.

[ALVAREZ6]

San Siro is probably my favorite stadium in the world though

[SAtown]

San Siro is probably my favorite stadium in the world though

It is mine also. The Milan fans made a lot of noise for a meaningless game, while the Barca crowd was as lame as the At&t center crowd in a regular season game. No chanting, no singing, no "porra." The Milan crowd gave me chills, especially during the CL Final.

[ALVAREZ6]

It is mine also. The Milan fans made a lot of noise for a meaningless game, while the Barca crowd was as lame as the At&t center crowd in a regular season game. No chanting, no singing, no "porra." The Milan crowd gave me chills, especially during the CL Final.You want a crowd, get yourself to a River Plate vs. Boca Juniors game at La Bombonera (Boca Juniors stadium, Buenos Aires).


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/Boca_Juniors_match.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/Boca_Juniors_X_S%C3%A3o_Paulo.jpg

http://www.whatilike.info/mettrelesvoiles/wp-content/uploads/Buenos%20Aires%20-%20La%20Bombonera.jpg

[SAtown]

River v Boca at La Bombonera is at the top of my list of things to see in my lifetime. I watch a lot of the Argentina league on SKY, since a lot of the players have played in the Mexican league, which I am a big fan of.

[resistanze]

:tu Now THAT'S a rivalry!

[ALVAREZ6]

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/osm/story/0,,1182710,00.html

50 sporting things you must do before you die


1 Watch Boca Juniors Play River Plate in Buenos Aires
Derby day in Buenos Aires makes the Old Firm game look like a primary school kick-about - and it's only a couple of quid to get in

Recommended by: Gavin Hamilton

The rivalry between Boca and River Plate is the most intense in Argentine football and, perhaps, in the whole of Latin America: the game is a riot of colour, noise and energy. Buenos Aires has the highest concentration of football teams of any city in the world. River and Boca are the two leading clubs. Boca are originally from the dockland area so their support is traditionally more working class. River moved away from the area early on in the league's history to a more upmarket district, and they have a slightly more affluent fan base, hence their nickname, Los Millionarios. One side of Boca's ground, the Estadio Alberto J Armando, is very strange. It resembles nothing so much as boxes stacked on top of each other and packed very tightly together. Its nickname, La Bonbonera (the chocolate box), is appropriate. On the day of the derby it is packed with hard-core fans.

Boca and River tend to produce the big names in Argentine football. Maradona was at Boca and a lot of star names have come from River Plate, such as Hernán Crespo. Even though they lose most of their best players to Europe, there is such passion for this match that it is unsurpassed anywhere in the world.
Gavin Hamilton is the editor of World Soccer magazine

Now go and do it:

Boca Juniors' stadium is at Brandsen 805, Capital Federal, Buenos Aires. Buses go there from all over the city but to avoid confusion a taxi might be advisable. Ticket prices range from 10-30 pesos (about £2-£6) depending on which part of the stadium you sit in and children get in for three pesos (about 60p). Tickets can be bought in advance from the ticket office or at the stadium on the day. Check the club's website, www.bocajuniors.com.ar (http://www.bocajuniors.com.ar/), to see when the ticket offices open as times can vary. Tickets are sold online at www.ticketek.com.ar (http://www.ticketek.com.ar/)

Five other football derbies not to be missed:

Rangers v Celtic

Barcelona v Real Madrid

Internazionale v Milan

Fenerbahce v Galatasaray

Cairo derby: Zamalek v Al-Ahli. It is the biggest match in Africa, always attracting crowds of 60,000 to the Cairo Stadium.
Surprisingly, this is a British page.

[ALVAREZ6]

short preview:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1Th5xkIGP4


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oECc1O8FNnU&NR=1

[SAtown]

short preview:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1Th5xkIGP4

Wow. I thought the Monterrey clasico (Monterrey vs. Tigres) was impressive, that looks so fucking badass. Everyone who thinks soccer sucks is just blind or stupid.

[ALVAREZ6]

Watch the 2nd clip, I just edited it in after your post.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oECc1O8FNnU&NR=1

[SAtown]

Watch the 2nd clip, I just edited it in after your post.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oECc1O8FNnU&NR=1

That's so sick.

(OFF TOPIC) While I'm speaking to an Argentine, this still breaks my heart:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geDH7SE_kCo&mode=related&search=

[ALVAREZ6]

That's so sick.

(OFF TOPIC) While I'm speaking to an Argentine, this still breaks my heart:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geDH7SE_kCo&mode=related&search=:lol

That was one of my all-time favorite goals, I couldn't believe it when it happened, Rodriguez nailed it in out of nowhere, that took crazy control.

[BeerIsGood!]

That's so sick.

(OFF TOPIC) While I'm speaking to an Argentine, this still breaks my heart:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geDH7SE_kCo&mode=related&search=

I was working in DC during that game and ducked out of my work to catch the match at a local Costa Rican owned restaurant and bar. That was one sick volley that shocked all of us gathered to watch the game.

I'd love to go to Euro '08.

[Purple & Gold]

Wow great pics. Looks like you had a great time. Too bad Gattuso is my least favorite player. But I'm glad Milan won. I would love to go to a Barca game, and I saw that game on TV it was a good one. Barcelona is a bad ass city too. Probably my favorite in Europe.

[englishspursfan]

be very carefull of liverpool fans ,absolute scumbags ,cause of 2 disasters an they still never learn.i wish the FA would kick them out of the league.

[SAtown]

be very carefull of liverpool fans ,absolute scumbags ,cause of 2 disasters an they still never learn.i wish the FA would kick them out of the league.

Haha, they are scumbags. I think FIFA declared them the "worst fans in Europe" a couple of weeks after the CL Final. I was hanging out at the Plaka the night before, and there were about 65,000 Liverpool fans hanging out in front of the Governor's square, trashing everything until 6-7 in the morning. They were fun people, but I HAD to disguise myself as a Liverpool fan. Since I didn't speak Italian BUT spoke English, it was easy for me to kinda relate to the Liverpool fans. All in all though, they were so fucking annoying. At the bars, at the restaurants, at the subway, at the stadium, at the fuckin ACROPOLIS, etc... Absolutely the most annoying fans I've ever been around.

[SAtown]

Well... That's me on the right. This pic is from a newspaper in Monterrey, Mexico (where I'm from). I'm living in Milan right now, met my family in Rome for the Final. I'll post more pics later

http://i43.tinypic.com/1606b5u.jpg

This is a pic from another newspaper in Monterrey, which caught the attention of a lot of people. Those on ST who are Mexican know what this is all about:


http://i39.tinypic.com/29eppp4.jpg

[lefty]

Great stuff :tu

By the way, when I was living in France, I got an autograph from Ronaldinho the day he was introduced to the PSG fans

[robino2001]

I just bought my rayados jersey in Puerto Vallarta when we were down there last week... cool deal

[Libri]

I'm going to try to go to three: Real Madrid, a BPL game in London and Roma or Lazio.