The European dream of Rayo celebrates its 20th anniversary

And then he woke up. On a day like today, March 15, 2001, the European dream of Rayo ended. An adventure that lasted 217 days – twelve games, with eight victories, two draws and two defeats, 30 goals in favor and 9 against – and twenty years later it is still remembered with nostalgia. That was his first time in the UEFA Cup. And the last one, for now. Hence, each anniversary the legend of that unique team grows, which placed Vallecas in Europe and showed that illusion can do everything. Or almost.

Nevertheless, UEFA was just the tip of the iceberg, since since the arrival of Juande Ramos to the bench, the franjirrojo team has been building stone on stone one of the club's golden ages. The coach took the reins in 98-99 and achieved the ascent. Already in his first season in the elite (99-00) he managed to win at the Calderón (0-2) and at the Camp Nou (0-2) and draw at the Bernabéu (0-0), something that he endorsed with the leadership of the highest category for four days (4, 8, 10 and 11) and a meritorious final ninth place.

That is how the Strip knocked on the gates of heaven and the fair play became the key to open them. UEFA raffled places among all the European federations and each one of them selected a team, according to some scoring criteria based on the fewest number of cards, greater respect for the referee and opponents, behavior of the spectators … In such a way that IFK Norrköping (Sweden), Lierse (Belgium) and Rayo (Spain) got their place.

That summer, the Vallecana entity was reinforced with key men such as Ballesteros, De Quintana and Bolic. And the squad had to shorten their vacations to prepare for the preliminary phase against him Constel·lació, to whom he endorsed two blushing goals, closing the tie with a 16-0 aggregate. A record still in his possession. Later, round by round, he left on the way to the Mold Norwegian, al Viborg danish Lokomotiv russian and al Girondins French. The last two, two continental classics. Until fate wanted, in quarters, to be produced a fratricidal duel. Alavés woke Rayo from a magical and unrepeatable dream, which two decades later they recall some of their protagonists…

For Juande, a good coach is one who gets the most out of his players. Well, he did it, helped by his coaching staff, then made up of Joaquín Mas Davo, his second, and Carmelo del Pozo, his physical trainer. He still remembers how he received the arrival – like this, by surprise – of UEFA: “We had to reduce the holidays to bring the preseason forward. We take it more as a prize than anything else. We did not have to change sports planning, or strengthen the team, because we had a balanced squad. Combining several competitions led to everyone will participate, not just eleven. They felt involved and that made the performance go up”.

The desire was the common denominator. “I experienced it in the same way as footballers. I was starting my coaching career and it was my first European experience“Juande starts, who does not forget that trip to Moscow:” It was the most atypical. We have never been in a similar situation. We did not know what we were going to find in that cold – it was close to 20 degrees below zero – with a completely frozen field and no grass. In the locker room we made bonfires, lighting cotton wool with alcohol. And in free hours we couldn't miss the opportunity to get to know the city ”. The fans traveled there to tuck them in: “There are no words to thank you. The effort they made is commendable, above all because of the economic cost ”.

There was not a single corner of Vallecas that did not vibrate with its Ray. “The neighborhood turned upside down and that was reflected in the mood of the players and their dedication. Playing at home was a real joy ”, continues the coach, who reveals the secret of success:“ Illusion and humility. We were the third team in town they all treated us like the ugly duckling, the little brother who has no right to anything. And we rebel before that. There was a desire to do something important ”. Many of his pupils occupy the benches today and have him as inspiration: “I enjoy their triumphs because I keep great memories of everyone.” Yes indeed, his best moment with the Strip is not UEFA but “the leadership, it had enormous merit ”.

They were also happy months for Captain Cota. “A dream come true”. And that despite the fact that a tibia fracture, in the return before the Constel·lació, prevented him from being on the grass, but not accompanying his Ray in those appointments so marked. “I would not change that UEFA for anything. Sofía Martín, from Marca, called me to tell me we were playing it. I was in my apartment in Benidorm and I gave a huge scream. At first I thought I was hesitating and no. Football gave me what I wanted so much, but then the injury took it away. I was nailed, I knew I had broken. When I got home my soul sank to my feet. I gave it my all and went with such impetus that, with that result, I should not have put my leg in. I'm like this. It is done. It was fate because he had never suffered such a severe injury. I started to enjoy the dream from another perspective. It filled me up to see my shirt, with 'Courage, Cota', In the stadiums and share the experience with the fans in the streets, in the bars … “, he relates with emotion.

A Cota is crowded with anecdotes when he talks about that adventure. “He had never seen those faces of illusion. Not only from the people of Vallecas. Everyone was made of Lightning. People from Madrid and Atleti traveled with us. We never imagined living something like this. When we got the Girondins we thought, this is where we have come. So we believed it and dreamed of the song: 'Next year, Rayo-Liverpool'. By little … “, explains the defense, who uncovers another aspect:”We change the premiums, we reduced that of objectives and increased that of matches ”.

And the star displacement was, without a doubt, that of Moscow. “I suffered with the crutches. I thought that escalators were fast in Spain, but there they were twice as fast. My ex was Russian and was acting as an interpreter. We ride the subway and he told us: ‘Please when the doors open we pass'. They pushed me and I ended up in a corner. I think they broke my leg again“Laughs Cota, who tried to fight the cold as best he could:” I bought a leather hat with ear flaps. There were women who put on three or four pants, I said they were 'women onions'. What we enjoyed, in the Nevada Red Square and Teresa Rivero, with us, taking photos. That was beautiful, but expensive. I wanted to buy some boots and they were worth three times more than here ”. Cota only had a thorn stuck, not being a starter in Andorra: “When Juande gave the line-up, everyone was looking at me. Míchel came to dedicate his goal to me”.

Both, Míchel and Cota, are from the neighborhood, cradle rayistas and ended up becoming legends of the Strip. In fact, Michel I – alias'the child'- was consecrated in that UEFA and he opened the jar of essences when the team needed it most. “It was a historic moment for the club, we carried the name of Rayo and Vallecas throughout Europe. Besides, we did very well and we had a beautiful competition ”, analyzes the midfielder, who highlights the role of veterans in that locker room, where he was one of the youngest —25 years—: “They put the batteries on us because they knew that we would not experience this again “. They were not wrong.

Through his words it is easy to travel each and every one of the destinations: “Against Constel·lació we got the biggest win, but I loved the experience of Norway. The Molde stadium was super modern and beautiful. The trip to Denmark was an odyssey, very long. Everything went wrong. Even the result until, in a foul, I hit a player of theirs with a ball and he entered the squad. The coolest trip was to Moscow. We had time to get to know the Red Square, see the subway, the hotel was five stars … And we thought that Girondins would be the last rival, but it was the most special night in Vallecas. On the return, I remember a very long dressing room tunnel. It made me endless and I thought that the shock would also make us endless there. Cembranos penalty reassured us. Later, Inter played against Alavés. Both had tied in Vitoria and we were already seeing each other in San Siro. It was not so. We get the big disappointment. We eliminated our black beast and reached the final against Liverpool, our dream match”.

Those they weren't the only memories that Míchel brought in his suitcase. “I have several T-shirts, a Russian hat and a gnome from Norway, the kind that brings luck, although if you see it at night what is scary”, He jokes. Other treasures he collected are the videos of those historic duels: “Sometimes I have put them on my children and they, who also have rayista hearts, have hallucinated. Hopefully there is a next time not too far away ”. While that happens, the pioneers keep in touch: “We were a great team and a family”.

The friendships forged in that wardrobe endure. And this is attested by a WhatsApp group from which Bolo is a member. The forward won the fans with dedication and goals, also becoming one of the most beloved teammates. “That time was beautiful. The best football has given me are friends. I have more relationship with Míchel, Lopetegui, Pablo Sanz and Cembranos. They have seen my children born and I have seen theirs. We have shared summers together …“Confesses the owner of a curious anecdote:” When the season ended (99-00) I had my wedding scheduled and a very cool honeymoon trip to the United States, which a friend from an agency had designed for us. We couldn't go for the UEFA preview, we missed it. We did it the old-fashioned way, a week in Ibiza and again to train because Juande wouldn't let me join later. The preseason was fifteen or twenty days early. We had to prepare well because it was a historical milestone, although after seeing the tie we would not have needed much to pass it either (laughs)”.

With that destiny pending – he still has California in mind – Bolo was able to enjoy the cold landscapes that each round brought them. “The displacements were a spectacle. We were a bit cold, but the places were very cool”, Explains the Basque, who is clear with which one he would stay:“ Norway! Having gone to the Fjords, living it with our families… Above all, I was lucky to mark El Molde. That was very important. Between the novelty, which was our first trip to Europe to represent Rayo, and the illusion we all looked like hicks (laughs)”.

The passage of time has made that feat, unique, acquire greater significance. “Now you give it much more value. My oldest son is 19 years old and the middle 15 and they have grown up watching the reports of the anniversaries. Once a year, at least, we put a DVD of my goals with the Strip and they always ask me the same thing “, she is sincere, before making an inventory of memories worthy of a museum:”I keep t-shirts, videos … And in the storage room, in a box, the famous Russian hat that we all buy. My middle son suggests that I take things out and hang them up, but I'm lazy because I have it that scares me, with trophies, paintings, newspaper clippings… ”.

From that batch of EuroRayo great coaches have come out. Currently, Pablo Sanz is Lopetegui's second at Sevilla —Roommates for years, their paths crossed in Porto and they already shared staff in the National Team and Real Madrid—, but they are not the only examples. Bolo, Míchel, Cembranos, De Quintana, Helder… add to the long list. “We liked him”, he confirms, praising his coach at the time: “I had Juande at Barça B and then three years at Vallecas. He prepared the set piece very well. When you are a humble team, you base your survival a lot on those actions.. That keeps happening. And it paid off for us ”.

The years have not blurred two snapshots of Pablo Sanz's retina. “I have recorded when, while on vacation, the delegate called us to tell us that we had to come back earlier because we were joining UEFA. And the game against Lokomotiv, that you couldn't even speak because your face was frozen —They recommended to apply petroleum jelly—, you couldn't drink because the water bottles were blocks of iceDuring the break we made a bonfire to warm our hands… I also have the Russian hat! It's like the one from the town that goes out to the city, that was the Lightning for Europe (laughs). Something like that. We were a pineapple ”, he says.

That good prevailing atmosphere favored the achievement of the milestone. “Seeing a neighborhood team reach the quarterfinals was incredible, as was everyone's effort. Not only of the players but of the entire structure of the club. I missed a match due to injury, but I scored two goals in the previous one against the Constel·lació. The level was not like First here. Hence my goals (laughs)“Says the pivot, who reels off the recipe for that feat:” There was a good coach and the footballers were not bad. We were clear about how to play and it was a balanced block, with physique and also a lot of quality in the boots of Cembranos or Míchel. We dominated the aerial game, Bolo was spectacular in the head … At that moment of confidence we get things that nobody expected”.

El Rayo savored one of the sweetest stages of his life, cooked not only through good results, but also through play. One of the magicians of the group was Luis Cembranos, who made his debut with the Spanish National Team on January 26, 2000. “It was an individual award, but it endorsed the collective. The block was demonstrating continuity, that all that it was achieving was not an overnight flower. I am proud to have been international as a franjirrojo player“, Wields the playmaker, preselected in two more calls than he ended up falling” due to muscle discomfort. Vallecas marked his career: “I arrived at an optimal moment of experience and energy, that joined the great group, project …”.

And is that Cembranos was the exception to the rule. He had indeed lived great continental appointments. In addition, twice: “I played the European Cup with Barcelona. When I got to the first team I played three games, two of them as a starter. And at Espanyol I participated in a UEFA knockout because we lost in the first round”. Although they had nothing to do with each other: “The structure of the clubs was very different, but Rayo was the closest. We spent a lot of time together. Not only professionally, but also outside. There was a very good atmosphere and we formed a family ”.

Remembering, Luis brujuleó something that struck him: “The maelstrom of so many encounters! We played Sunday and Wednesday. The lack of habit and that little time makes you live things at a pace that you now remember with more meaning. There it was a question of enjoying and trying to go as far as possible ”. And for special, the pass against Girondins: “He was a strong enemy. The result so bulky and unexpected at home gave us confidence for the return”. He is also fond of the Constel·lació: “We took things seriously from the beginning. That duel sounded a bit more like preseason, but it was important to us.”.

Those Quixotes had their Sanchos. Those faithful squires, essential to fight the European giants. Some such as doctor Carlos Beceiro, physio Marcos Marín, utility workers José Vargas and Kiko Jiménez, press officer Fernando López… continue working on the current Ray. While the mythical Isi, now retired, remembers his adventures: “In Denmark we could not do anything, or walk, because it was a very bad day, raining. In Norway yes and the Molde stadium was beautiful. A lot of fans came to Bordeaux by bus because it was the closest place ”.

Whoever has been a utillero for more than 30 years dedicates a separate chapter to Moscow and links one anecdote after another: “I think it hadn't snowed until we went. We approached Red Square and snowballed each other, took pictures of each other… I exchanged my wool cap with the shield for one of those typical ones, like a rabbit. The seller told me to give it to him and, by signs, because of course, I don't know Russian, I answered him that nothing of that, that he changed it. I agree. We also went to the famous subway and stayed in a great hotel ”. Isi and a very young Kiko saw each other and wished to have all the equipment ready to combat the freezing temperatures: “We had to wear everything: leggings, thermal shirts … The clothes were Joma and in less than a week we had them ready. And to travel, come take out, come take out …”.

Already simply on the way to Russia a special atmosphere was breathed. “On the first leg we were playing cards and it made me a little longer, but the return was very short. We hooked up with vodka and caviar, which when I got to the airport I didn't know whether to take the bags or go straight home (laughs). Mami Quevedo bought it. With the cap I drank the shots and, in between, a teaspoon of beluga caviar ”, laughs Isi, who keeps“ a pin ”of all the rivals. Another ritual before the games starred him President Teresa Rivero: “Wherever we traveled, she would ask at the hotel and go to the nearest church by taxi or on foot. At first he had no idea about football, although later he learned and threw his roll, he already knew what an offside was ”. And what will the future hold? “I don't think I will see Rayo again in Europe, but I will see Bolo at Rayo.”, He predicts.

That UEFA was not only unforgettable for the club and Rayismo, but also for journalists. Manu Martín – currently at ESPN – was then working at SER and experienced it in the first person. “I missed the first round because they sent me to narrate the debut of Depor in the Champions League. It's funny, I experienced the European debut of both. I covered the one at Viborg and the one at Lokomotiv since then, in January, I went to Localia “, says Manu, who shows his good memory:”Mami Quevedo had respect for the plane. On the way back from Moscow, before taking off, the machine was thawing its wings and I couldn't look. I was having a hard time. The one who was next to him was me. The seats were distributed to us and it did not matter if you were a player, journalist, manager …”.

Their Inseparable companions of adventures were Sara Jiménez, from Telemadrid and Óscar Sanz, from El País. During Denmark's cumbersome move they upped the ante and joked that they would get Russia. Well said and done. “The clash was played at -18 degrees in the Moscow Olympic Stadium 80, which was uncovered, and we could not sit. The seats had a huge layer of snow. We had interviewed Teresa Rivero in the preview and she told us: ‘We don’t care about the cold, if we’ve already played in Soria”. And the thing is that nothing stopped them: “It was the first time that It was felt that Rayo was a very large team, that it was capable of everything”. Every step he took felt like their own. “Those of us who had the least weight in the newsroom went there. His growth was our professional ”, he reasons.

Time has not succeeded in erasing this accumulation of experiences: “We all took a photo, I have it with Míchel, with the sentry boxes of the Russian soldiers, that they could not move ”. Nor does he forget how the group of journalists lived their first Moscow night: “There was a karaoke under the hotel, empty, because it was Tuesday and it was snowing. The list of songs was in Cyrillic and Óscar discovered the one for ‘Eres tú’, by Mocedades. There we began to sing it ”. Although the most tender moment was starred by a Danish teddy bear: “My daughter just turned 20 and I bought her the bear, with which she still sleeps, at the Aarhus airport with Teresa Rivero by my side. I was going to enter by phone with De la Morena, that night the Ray opened The spar”.

But who dreamed the strongest was the fans. The lovers of the Strip lived their most beautiful idyll and toured Europe aware of the fleeting nature of happiness. Angel Domínguez, Gelo, and his rock – the then newly born ‘Planeta Rayista ’— were present in Andorra, Bordeaux and Vitoria. “We couldn't go to the colder places. The logistics were complex. There were no regular flights and the cost was high. The trip to Bordeaux marked me. Bus caravans were set up and it was the awakening of the fans to mobilize, again, en masse. The youngest of us did not remember something like that. Thanks to the illusion, the kilometers were not even noticeable ”, Gelo begins, adding:“ We prepared the trips together. I wear this, you carry the other … Imagine, there, in a square taking out ham, cheese, loin … And the wine boot! People looked at us as if to say: 'And where did these come from?' (laughs)”.

That year 2000, ‘Planeta Rayista’ broke in, but the current president of the Association of Shareholders ADRV lists other existing clubs: ‘Los Petas’, took color and shape ‘Bukaneros’, they were the ‘Peña Cota’ and the ‘Peña Siglo XXI'… And Luis Alhambra went to Russia!”. Although, undoubtedly, Andorra was the destination that gathered the most followers: “It was the first European trip, it was closer and it was summer, vacation period. We met the players and they were infected by our joy ”. Indeed, one of them gave him his most valuable treasure: “I have always had a special bond with Bolo and He promised that if we passed he would give me some boots with his name. He complied. I also keep the Girondins commemorative scarf. When I see her I get goose bumps”.

Gelo did not fail in the Vallecas appointments either. “Despite being historical, Telemadrid did not broadcast it. Within a few years, other teams achieved something similar and turned to them. The directive, as if it had been the Cup, prevailed trying to raise money instead of filling the stadium. It is a thorn that stayed with me. Tickets cost 5,000 pesetas (€ 30) and not everyone could afford it “, he analyzes, while putting another curiosity on the table:”Do you know that there was a blackout after a goal from Alcázar? The power went out with everyone celebrating it and we were able to enjoy it for a longer time ”. Even today they savor everything they have experienced because there are moments that become eternal …

The album of a UEFA to remember