Marc Cucurella was booed during Real Madrid’s victory at the Bernabéu. The German fans have clearly not forgotten an incident from the 2024 European Championship quarter-final.
Marc Cucurella was loudly booed during Real Madrid’s 4–1 Champions League victory over RB Leipzig at the Santiago Bernabéu. The Spanish left-back came on in the 70th minute to replace Álvaro Carreras. Thereafter, whistles could be heard from various sections of the stadium almost every time he touched the ball.
The crowd’s reaction caused some surprise in Spain. *Marca* reported “strange boos directed at Cucurella throughout the Bernabéu”. The sports newspaper clarified that the boos did not come from Real fans, but from travelling supporters from Germany.
According to the report, the German fans were spread throughout the stadium. Real’s security plan had allocated around 2,000 away fans to the top tier behind the north goal. However, through ticket resales and other means, numerous other spectators from Germany are said to have secured seats amongst the home fans. This is why whistles directed at Cucurella were heard from several areas of the stadium.
Whistles directed at Cucurella not an isolated incident
The whistles from the German supporters stem from an incident during the 2024 European Championship quarter-final between Germany and Spain. In extra time, a shot by Jamal Musiala struck Cucurella on the arm, but the referee and VAR did not award a penalty. Spain went on to win 2–1 after extra time and progressed to the semi-finals.
A review by the UEFA Referees’ Committee, which came to light later, classified the incident as worthy of a penalty. The anger over the unpunished incident still lingers among some German fans to this day. Among other things, Cucurella was booed last year during the Nations League semi-final in Stuttgart.
On Wednesday evening, the home crowd at the Bernabéu tried to drown out the boos directed at Cucurella by applauding whenever he touched the ball.