"There was a little magic in the atmosphere, Pellegrino Matarazzo said. Real Sociedad's new coach could feel it; he could hear it too, the sound of drums beating on every street of the city he has embraced and into the stadium that has embraced him back already. When he and his players arrived at Anoeta on Sunday evening, they entered through a guard of honour, a band of soldiers and chefs lined up in the rain, hammering out the club anthem and hoping."
"By the time they departed around midnight, following 35,346 supporters out into San Sebastian, it had actually happened. La Real had beaten Barcelona 2-1. Celebrations, his captain Mikel Oyarzabal said, had come a day early. This week is tamborrada, the San Sebastian festival where, at midnight on 20 January, the city flag is raised and marching bands parade through its streets in napoleonic uniforms and cooks' costumes grasping sticks, batons and giant cutlery, routes mapped out in loving detail and special supplements."
"It had started with the first bands setting off towards the ground at 7pm, the guard of honour, and a 300-strong orchestra on the pitch for kick-off, the tenor and the festival's golden drum winner Xabier Anduaga belting out the anthems, a 300-strong city symphonic accompanying him. It began too with Mikel Oyarzabal, golden drum in 2024, scoring the opening goal after 24 seconds, with the place exploding."
San Sebastian hosted tamborrada festival as Real Sociedad welcomed coach Pellegrino Matarazzo and the team to Anoeta amid drumming and civic celebration. Players entered through a guard of honour formed by soldiers and chefs who hammered out the club anthem in the rain. A 300-strong orchestra and tenor Xabier Anduaga performed on the pitch before kickoff. Mikel Oyarzabal scored after 31 minutes, cancelling out an earlier disallowed strike, and Real Sociedad defeated Barcelona 2-1, ending Barcelona's 11-game winning run. Fans of 35,346 spilled into the streets after the match. Matarazzo issued tactical instruction during the night.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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