Despite the poor performance of his team and dissatisfaction with the Brazilian star's management of the club, Real Valladolid fans filled Estadio José Zorrilla on last Saturday. The rival was none other than Real Madrid.

Biggest fans, biggest protests

Although last Saturday's clash between Real Valladolid and Real Madrid will be remembered for the first hat-trick scored by Mbappe for Los Blancos, fans in the capital of Castilla y Leon will probably prefer to remember from the 0:3 defeat another event: making a new attendance record at a Pucelanos match. The clash against the La Liga leader drew 26,025 fans, the best attendance since 1996, when the all standing seats at Estadio José Zorrilla were converted into chairs. With a capacity of 27,618 seats, this means the stadium was 94.2% full.

Real Valladolid fans decided to use their number and the rival to manifest their dissatisfaction with the club's management by Ronaldo Nazario more loudly than in previous matches. The Brazilian took over the club in 2018 to become its president, but his popularity has fallen dramatically in recent years.

The change of the club's traditional logo to a modern version, two relegations to Segunda (2021 and 2023) and, most importantly, holding the last place in La Liga with 15 points after 21 games have resulted in the legendary footballer's popularity at a record low in Valladolid. Ronaldo has even announced his desire to sell the club in recent months and has publicly declared losing interest in soccer.

Ronaldo also did not appear at the match against Real. Nevertheless, many fans wore reflective vests and held out yellow banners with the words Ronaldo, go home!. There were also shouts of Ronaldo, vete ya (Ronald, go now) and Directiva, dimisión (Board of Directors, resign).

© Angel Becerra Gende| Estadio José Zorrilla, built for the 1982 World Cup, had a capacity of 33,000 before the standing sectors were eliminated.