Batbricks7

Former Real Madrid star has rediscovered himself at the Benito Villamarín. But on Sunday disaster struck

Suddenly the music stopped and the dancing did too, the magic gone. The Benito Villamarín might just be the loudest ground in La Liga, where the club’s anthem claims fans are packed in like cannonballs and completely convinced their team are champions even if they’re last. There’s a lot of folklore, it’s true, and some of the silliness is oversold, but there’s a lot of fun and loads of noise. Home to Real Betis, it’s a place where even being dead is no excuse for not supporting, one fan famously taking his dad’s ashes in a milk carton and placing it in his seat every week, yet for one brief moment on Sunday evening it went quiet, 53,336 people sitting in silence saying nothing, which said everything.