Las Vegas gets the soccer fever ahead of Real Madrid-Barcelona friendly

Las Vegas, United States, Jul 23 (EFE).- It is not just about the roulettes and poker at the casinos anymore, or partying at the clubs all night, Las Vegas on Saturday woke up with its DNA altered temporarily and put all its bets on the “el clasico” between legendary Spanish soccer clubs Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Situated right next to Las Vegas Strip, the street that houses the most famous casinos, the Allegiant Stadium is ready to forget about its usual occupants, NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders, and host the La Liga soccer teams on Saturday night for an exciting friendly.

Fans thronged outside the stadium hours ahead of the friendly to recreate the unparalleled atmosphere of the clasico, despite the scorching hear of the Nevada desert, where maximum temperature surged up to 42 on Saturday, while even the minimum stood at 30.

Thankfully, the Allegiant Stadium is a closed-roof airconditioned facility, so that the heat would not be a problem during the match.

With music blaring out of cars, people had put out chairs and loungers in the shade and were enjoying the festive atmosphere with chilled beer and chatting with other soccer fans.

The crowd was almost equally divided between the white (Madrid) and the blue and red (Barca) jerseys of the two arch-rivals, and periodically broke into chants of “Hala Madrid” or “Visca Barca.”

“I am a (Real) Madrid fan by heart, for 33 years,” William, who had travelled from Florida to see his favorite club play, told EFE.

“The clasico is something very big,” said the fan, of Guatemalan origin, who predicted a 2-0 win for his team.

Two other fans, Nestor (pro-Madrid) and Eddy (Barcelona fan), had arrived from Los Angeles to watch what they agreed were “the best teams in the world.”

“We are very happy,” the two told EFE, before making contrasting predictions about the outcome of the match: Nestor foreseeing a 2-0 win for Real, while Eddy betting on a 2-1 finish for the Catalan club. EFE

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