The Bernabéu pays tribute to Lorenzo Sanz before the Madrid-Celta

The Santiago Bernabéu paid a heartfelt tribute to Lorenzo Sanz in the run-up to the match against Celta, the first meeting hosted by the Madrid stadium after the pandemic. The one who was president of Real Madrid between 1995 and 2000 died on March 21, 2020, a victim of the coronavirus in the midst of the first wave.

The event took place ten minutes before the opening whistle, with a large canvas with the face of Lorenzo Sanz presiding over the central circle, in the place occupied by the Champions League logo in the matches of the highest continental competition. Seven pairs of football and basketball veterans from the Sanz era presented on the pitch the seven titles that Real Madrid won during his tenure: the seventh and eighth European Cup, an Intercontinental Cup, a League and a Spanish Football Super Cup, and a Basketball League and Cup Winners' Cup. Mijatovic, Sanchís, Casillas, Salgado, Fernando Sanz, Guti, Hierro, Amavisca, Chendo, Arlaukas and Alberto Angulo, among others, they were in charge of carrying the trophies to the bases arranged on the pitch.

Behind them Lorenzo Sanz's family took to the field, with his widow, Mari Luz, visibly moved. Also one of his sons, Paco Sanz, who in recent months has struggled to overcome a complicated illness. The around 20,000 spectators gathered in the stands of the Bernabéu received them standing up and with applause.

In addition to this act of tribute to Lorenzo Sanz, before the initial whistle, a minute of silence was observed in memory of all the victims of the pandemic.