The Super Bowl is a huge day for American football; it's one of the most watched things on television, and advertisers pay millions of dollars for a 30 second commercial clip. Across the Atlantic, today was the equivalent of that, just with a different kind of fútbol.
At 20:45 tonight, the championship game of the UEFA league kicked off between FC Barcelona of Spain and Manchester United of England. Soccer is the king of sports in Europe, and since the game was being held at Stadio Olimpico, it was no surprise for us to see fans trickling in throughout the week for tonight's matchup.
The girls and I decided to go to a bar in Campo de' Fiori to catch the game, and were surprised to find out that the entire city of Rome had stopped serving alcohol, beginning Tuesday at 23:00 and ending Thursday morning at 06:00. This really put it into perspective how integral alcohol is in American sports, most notably with tailgating.
FC Barcelona prevailed 2-0 in a game that lasted just over 90 minutes, ending around 22:45. Despite not being able to buy any celebratory brewskis, the Barça fans still found a way to show their joy. As we were walking home, there were kids jumping and splashing around in one of the many fountains in Rome, and I'm sure the same thing was happening all over the city. Although it is illegal and the Carabinieri followed close behind, it was still fun to see people getting so excited over sports. Normally, these fountains are only for aesthetics, and sometimes to fill up a water bottle or two.
Being in Roma, I'm not able to watch the Phillies play and I have to catch up with all of my sports information online, but tonight I got to experience it firsthand.
Maybe I didn't get to actually go to the game - 2000,00 euro for a ticket is a little too rich for my blood - but I was able to stand amongst the fans chanting Barça! Barça! Barça! and feel the love all the same.
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