Despite ghost games: The Alfredo Di Stéfano is Europe's second strongest fortress

StatisticsIt may sound like a joke just looking at the small venue on the Real Madrid training grounds, but there is no doubt in terms of sport: the Estadio Alfredo Di Stéfano has developed into a fortress for the royal family! As a study by the CIES Football Observatory showed, Real Madrid has been the home team with the second highest win rate in Europe’s top 5 leagues since the ghost games began.

Photo: IMAGO / Revierfoto“>Enlarge

Visually less, but more sporty: The Estadio Alfredo Di Stéfano has become a fortress for Real – Photo: IMAGO / Revierfoto

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Bernabéu remodeling as a winner of the pandemic

MADRID. When the ball started rolling again last season after the Corona-related forced break, nothing was the same in most leagues around the world. Due to the high risk of infection, from now on, almost everywhere only played in front of empty stands. In the course of these ghost games, the Real management team around President Florentino Pérez decided to move the Blancos’ home games from the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu to the much smaller Estadio Alfredo Di Stéfano for an indefinite period. The simple reason: “This decision will allow us to move forward with the renovation work on the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu”, so Pérez. The much smaller capacity of the Di Stéfanos with no ticket receipts anyway – no matter.

Almost nothing to get for opponents in the Spanish capital

Very few had expected that the decision by Pérez and Co. would also turn out to be an absolute stroke of luck in terms of sport. Because: A study by the CIES Football Observatory, a research group within the Center International d’Etude du Sport (CIES), revealed that Real has had the second-highest home win rate in Europe’s top 5 leagues since the ghost games began. All home league games from April 1, 2020 to January 25, 2021 were evaluated.

With twelve wins from 14 games, the Merengues have a win rate of 85.7 percent. This value is only topped by city rivals: Atlético Madrid stands at 86.7 percent, won 13 of 15 games. It is particularly interesting that Real in a win in the upcoming home game against Levante (Saturday, 4:15 p.m., in REAL TOTAL-Liveticker and DAZN) could catch up with the “Rojiblancos” at the top of the ranking. Behind them in third place are the triple winners from Bayern Munich with 83.3 percent and even Liverpool FC, with their recently broken home series of 68 (!) Unbeaten games in a row, are “only” 71.4 percent ( sixth place). And the arch-rival from Barcelona? With 57.1 percent far behind in 20th place!

Atlético Madrid: 86.7%
Real Madrid: 85.7%
FC Bayern: 83.3%
Manchester City: 81,3 %
Paris Saint-Germain: 72.7%
FC Liverpool: 71.4%
AS Rom: 68,8 %
Inter Milan: 68.8%
Atalanta Bergamo: 68.8%
FC Sevilla: 66.7%

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Bernabéu was no longer a fortress

Immediately after the Corona break in the preseason, coach Zinédine Zidane’s team at Di Stéfano was convincing and won all six remaining league home games. Also in the current season there was hardly anything to win for guests, with six wins from eight games you only had to admit defeat to the supposed outsiders from Cádiz (0: 1) and Alavés (1: 2). If the home games played in Di Stéfano in the Champions League – “of course” also played without an audience – were included, you would still have a strong win rate of 82.4 percent despite the defeat against Shakhtar (2: 3).

A direct comparison between the venerable Estadio Santiago Bernabéu and its “little brother”, the Estadio Alfredo Di Stéfano, is particularly interesting. In contrast to the “training stadium”, Real’s venue on the Concha Espina may look like a true fortress, but it has rarely been able to do it justice in the end. In a total of 17 home games in LaLiga and Champions League in front During the Corona break, i.e. those last 17 games in the Bernabéu, Blancos had a victory rate of only 58.8 percent (Ten wins, six draws, one loss).

If you look at all 17 home games in LaLiga and Champions League after the Corona break, results in the already mentioned victory rate of 82.4 percent and thus a significant increase of 23.6 percent!

Before the corona break:

last 17 home games in Bernabeu: 10 wins, 6 draws, 1 loss
Siegquote: 58,8 %

After the corona break:

last 17 home games in Di Stefano: 14 wins, 0 draws, 3 defeats
Siegquote: 82,4 %

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Worldwide home win rate decreased

This clearly contradicts the global trend, because as the CIES Football Observatory also found out, the average home win rate in the 66 best leagues worldwide has increased from 45.1 percent (January 1, 2019 to March 31, 2020) to 42 percent ( April 1, 2020 to January 18, 2021) as part of the ghost games.

How can this turnaround of the royal family be explained? Do you feel more comfortable in the small and cozy Di Stéfano? Can you play more freely without the pressure of the audience? Or both? The fact is: as much as you may miss the incomparable and nerve-tickling atmosphere of a fully occupied Bernabéus – for athletic success, Ramos and Co. seem to be a few steps smaller and quieter.

Despite ghost games: The Alfredo Di Stéfano is Europe’s second strongest fortress

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