Real Madrid’s trip to Kazakhstan draws interest from Chinese fans | OneFootball

“I’m excited!”: Rebecca Feng eagerly awaits boarding the flight that will take her from Beijing to Kazakhstan, where Real Madrid will play in the Champions League, a unique opportunity for Chinese fans to see a top-tier European football match relatively close to their country.

Wearing a jersey of star Kylian Mbappé, Rebecca is already dreaming of the match in Almaty, the largest city in Kazakhstan, between Kairat, the modest local team, and the stars of Real Madrid.

If the trip is long for the Spaniards, who faced a ten-hour flight to reach the Central Asian country, the visit of the ‘merengue’ team is a gift for Chinese fans.

Instead of traveling up to 9,000 kilometers to reach Europe, just a short flight is enough to enjoy the Champions League.

“Besides, Chinese citizens don’t need a visa to enter Kazakhstan and the match falls right before eight holidays, so I just had to ask for one day off,” Rebecca explains to AFP.

“It was a perfect alignment of the planets. An opportunity you can’t let slip by!” emphasizes the 28-year-old, wrapped in a Real Madrid flag.

Childhood Memory

Kazakhstan borders China and the flight from Beijing to Almaty is about four hours long.

In total, at least 30 members of ‘ChinaReal’ are expected to travel, according to Peng Fei, president of the Shanghai branch of this group of Spanish club supporters in the Asian country.

On social media, dozens of internet users from Shanghai and Ürümqi, a large city near the Kazakh border, said they would go to Almaty for the match.

Although located in Asia, Kazakhstan has been a UEFA member since 2002. This is only the second time a club from the country is playing in the Champions League, after FC Astana.

A Real Madrid supporter and fan of Sergio Ramos since Spain’s Euro 2008 title, Rebecca Feng got to know the club at her grandfather’s house, where “the TV was always on the sports channel.”

“When I was a student in Spain, I went to two games at the Santiago Bernabéu,” explains the young woman, who works in finance.

At her side, Alex Lee, 25 years old and a Cristiano Ronaldo fan, can’t hide his excitement before boarding.

“I have a good friend, a Jude Bellingham fan, who was going to come with me, but couldn’t because of work. So he gave me the player’s jersey to wear and represent him at the game,” he says.

Fede Valverde Fan

Kairat’s stadium has only 23,000 seats. Tickets for the match were “in high demand,” especially because “fans from all over Central Asia were interested,” says Rebecca Feng.

Thanks to ‘ChinaReal’, she managed to get tickets for the away section at 50 euros (R$ 312 at the current exchange rate) each, she says.

“It’s going to be amazing to be with the other fans, including those coming from Spain,” she says excitedly.

Both plan to do some sightseeing in Kazakhstan, with a stop in neighboring Uzbekistan in Rebecca’s case.

Their expectations for the match? “Real just lost the derby against Atlético [5-2 on Saturday]. So I hope they bounce back,” says the young woman.

“I love Fede Valverde for his fighting spirit. I can’t wait to see him in person!” says Alex Lee, who also shared his prediction for the result: “3-0 Real Madrid, with goals from Mbappé and Bellingham.”

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.