Why Real Madrid's Marc Cucurella Was Booed at the Bernabeu

This Wednesday's match was a quite calm one for Real Madrid, which, led by Arda Guler, found the main route into the opposing area during the 77 minutes the Turk was on the field. Later, two bits of brilliance from Kylian Mbappe and Yan Diomande finished closing out the scoreline, which was 4-1 over RB Leipzig. All that was left as a task was to review the lapse in defense that allowed the Germans to pull one back on the scoreboard.

One of the things that drew the most attention during the match was that, in the 70th minute, when Marc Cucurella came onto the field, replacing Alvaro Carreras, a lot of whistling began to be heard in the Away Stand, where the German team's fanbase was located. Every time the fullback touched the ball, whistling began to sound, traveling through all the stands, giving the sensation that the whistling was widespread.

At first it seemed somewhat illogical that he would receive such hostile treatment in his own stadium, but little by little the explanation began to emerge. To begin with, the Germans have held a grudge against Cucurella since Euro 2024.

Since Germany and Spain faced each other in the semifinals, during extra time the Germans were looking for the equalizing goal since they were losing 2-1 to the Iberians. Jamal Musiala shot from outside the area toward the goal, but it ended up hitting Cucurella's hand, provoking great annoyance among the players, staff, and fanbase.

Back at the Bernabeu, Madrid's security plan contemplated that 2,000 German fans would be in the stadium, specifically in the last amphitheater of the north end. However, taking advantage of resale and alternative channels to buy tickets, hundreds of German fans managed to "infiltrate" silently through all sections of the stadium.

Despite all this, the Madrid fanbase realized what was happening and decided to respond with applause and an ovation for the fullback. 'Cucu' had few minutes, but that does not exclude him from having had a good performance. Carreras started as a starter, possibly to ration minutes ahead of the most important match of this first half of the season, the Clasico against Barcelona.

Next Sunday, Oct. 25, at the Camp Nou, Madrid will have the extremely complicated task of taking the three points home. Against a Barcelona that, until last Tuesday, had only been winning its matches, registering 11 victories in 11 games. But Paris Saint-Germain defeated them in a somewhat resounding 4-2 at the Parc des Princes. We will see who arrives more motivated for this match that will paralyze the football world.