Chendo was always there

Yes. It was always there. Maybe it didn't attract attention. He was not one of the most important, but his role, with the passage of time, has made him a luxury secondary in the exciting career of Real Madrid. His name is Miguel Porlan Noguera. He is known by his nickname, Chendo ('Chendi' for Zidane). For many, he was the sixth man in The Quinta del Buitre. A former soccer player who belongs to the white club since he entered the 70s. From Murcia, he acted on the right side from 1982 to 1998, the year in which he became the team's delegate.

What if. He is a chosen one who has lived the five games that Madrid has played behind closed doors live. Four with the first team and one with Castilla, in 1980. At that time it was already emerging. The band went up without problems and closed the attacking rival without any problem. In the 1980-81 season, Castilla had the honor of being the Spanish representative in the European Cup Winners' Cup. He had played the Cup final against the majors, and had lost 6-1. The draw resulted in a showdown with English West Ham.

The first match, played on September 17, 1980, ended with a resounding victory for whitebirds 3-1, after tracing Cross's initial goal. Paco, Balín and Cidón turned him around in a frantic second half: they scored three goals in 12 minutes, from 64 to 76 '. Everything was pending for the return. Nevertheless, the behavior of the hooligans hammers, causing altercations in the Bernabéu and surroundings, motivated UEFA to rule that the second leg would be played behind closed doors. And there, at Boleyn Ground, in Upton Park, London, he played 120 minutes of the game. Castilla would be eliminated in overtime, but that experience would never be forgotten. UEFA allowed a small number of people (262) at the English stadium.

His second experience was at the Bernabéu … and nothing more, nothing less, against the Naples of Maradona, the champion of Italy. In 1987, UEFA, uncompromising in the 1980s after the barbarism of Heysel (1985), sanctioned Madrid with a harsh sanction after a match plagued by incidents between the Whites and Bayern Munich: they would have to play a game on goal closed and another 300 kilometers from the capital. The hype ruled that the meringues would face the match in the first round. And there, before just 200 people, the madridistas finally beat the Italians 2-0, with goals from Míchel, a penalty, and Tendillo. But The best of the game was carried out by Chendo himself: he tried to spout Maradona himself. Al Diego who a year earlier had proclaimed himself world champion in Mexico. A Diego who was subjected to an imperial marking by the Murcian, who stopped him without committing hardly any fouls. He was so surprised by Chendo's manner that he asked Valdano to have dinner with him that same night … The same Valdano who would later say: “It was as if the birds were throwing themselves at shotguns.”

The third time was in Spain, in a formidable setting: the La Romareda stadium, in Zaragoza, It was the stage chosen to end an encounter that began with the El Sadar stadium in Pamplona and ended with a 50-minute encounter in the Aragonese capital: Due to a series of incidents caused mostly by the most radical supporters of the rojillo team, Osasuna-Madrid from the 1988-89 season had to be suspended upon receiving Buyo, a Real Madrid goal, a firecracker as well as various object launches. The referee for the match, Socorro González, suspended the match in the 42nd minute. On January 31, 1989, the Competition Committee decided that the setting to settle the remaining time would be La Romareda and behind closed doors. Chendo played that time (he had been a starter in Pamplona), and he saw how Hugo Sánchez balanced the game with a goal from a direct free kick.

Chendo would retire in 1998 being champion of Europe. He became a team delegate. Y in this way he has lived two other closed-door meetings. The first, against Roma, at the Olympic. The Roman team were sanctioned by UEFA when Swedish referee Anders Frisk was hit by an object thrown from the stands in a match against Dynamo Kiev. Madrid also won (0-3, goals by Ronaldo and two by Figo, one from a penalty). There before some 1,000 people between delegations of both teams, VIP tickets (UEFA sponsors plus people are on duty (police, fire and medical technicians)… and ten white fans, debuted again on these issues. There he attended the requests of García Remón, coach at the time of the first team of Madrid. Changes, annotations, instructions, all in a magnificent setting where the screams among the companions could be heard even through television.

The last one was in Warsaw, in a match against the Polish Legia in 2016. The radical supporters of the Polish group, one of the most violent in the entire European continent, caused a pitched battle in the match that his team lost to Borussia Dortmund (0-6), in the first match of the Champions League playoffs. Poles and Germans had been placed with Madrid and Sporting Lisbon in Group F, and UEFA's sanctions were not going to be short: closing the field in the match against Madrid and an economic fine of 80,000 euros for insufficient organization and access to the stands blocked. And there, in Warsaw, behind closed doors saw the fastest goal that Madrid has scored in the Champions League: Bale impaled a left-foot shot that Malarz, the Polish goalkeeper, could not stop.

Chendo was there. The only protagonist who has lived five empty-door matches for Real Madrid. The man who was always there.