3-1: With all of you, La Real

Paraphrasing the voice that Anoeta's PA system spits: ‘zuekin … Reala!’. In Spanish: ‘With all of you, La Real!’. The most exciting reunion in months, the time of the most anticipated moment, marked a memorable day. 5,023 members of the Real will tell the rest of their lives that they were the first to experience football from the inside, in its truest and most authentic version, in this kind of permission granted by the bloody pandemic. The highest representation of Gipuzkoan football sent the Covid to fry asparagus, at least for 90 minutes. Magic hour and a half, essence, the day when hearts beat again with supreme force as they vibrated on their return to the field.

Separated as established by the security guidelines, seated and while they dyed the stands white and blue, the spectators populated Anoeta and had the added prize of seeing the Real win. The victory, surely, was more secondary than ever. To its traditional irrelevance in the warming of the summer, it was necessary to unite against Alavés the undoubted preponderance of the recovery of life in Anoeta: the return of the people. The scream, half broken, half euphoric, from the throats, like heavenly music.

Long time no see, Real, and the Real turned red. In the purest style of the manomanista champions, dressed for the occasion in bright red. The new substitute clothing, visible in Anoeta, so that no one would miss a detail. Image of the new times, of the season about to be born, which will witness the long-awaited embrace between the field and the stands. It will be metaphysical, but it will feel like Imanol is squeezing you with his seething passion.

La Real was prompted to be clothed. He inflamed his football by levitating with people, even if there were only 5,000 in an immensity of 40,000 seats. The contagions in Anoeta were counted by moods. The fans chanted “Txapeldunak, txapeldunak!” In the first mass celebration of the final and the Barrenetxea, Januzaj and Carlos Fernández began to do mischief. Anoeta began to cheer incessantly and Aritz Elustondo fitted him into the leader's tailcoat like hake sauce. The communion was proud of its notorious presence and Beñat Turrientes, another organizer made by Zubieta, began to direct the orchestra with the mastery of the chosen ones.

Giving show

Even the tired rhythm of these blank shootings was well concealed by Real, at times spectacular against a contracted Alavés. If these friendlies serve for Barrenetxea to be a waste of faculties, for Januzaj to decide brilliantly, Navarro blanks out with rip and tear defenses or Gorosabel maintains its growth, they will be welcome. Aihen, comfortable in the middle of a complex summer, a protagonist Roberto López and the works of Jon Pacheco were other refreshing drops of rain.

All except the hand, who played an hour, left at halftime. In its place came a stable Zaldua, a strange gunboat like Zubeldia, Guridi and his deployment, the fire of Portu and a discreet Willian José. The result of the mix was a solvent triumph, of course, justified in the quality that the Real treasures in different ranges of action. With the basting at the ready to sew plays near the area and solving the laboratory method -two goals were in lateral fouls-.

Pacheco arrives and kisses the saint

Januzaj, the architect of the victory, was a pioneer in scoring in front of the Anoeta stands. His name was chanted. He received from Barrenetxea and opened the can in the 7th minute hitting with his right from outside the area. A center from the Belgian from a set piece short-circuited Alavés and Pacheco claimed his first goal at Real. Arrive and kiss the saint for the baztandarra. In between Lucas had tied after a penalty from Remiro to Guidetti. All in a very entertaining first act. Until the second it was necessary to wait, when the respectable had digested the emotion of the return, for the goal of Zubeldia, the header of a center from the youth squad Garrido. It only remains to hope that the day was the beginning of the longed for normality. New, old or whatever, but let it come back.