A wide area around Atletico Madrid’s Wanda Metropolitano Stadium was cloaked in thick red smoke on Wednesday night, not from conflict, but from thousands of fans lighting flares, chanting in unison, and turning the Copa del Rey semifinal into a full-blown football festival.
Supporters of both Atletico Madrid and Barcelona flooded the streets before the high-stakes second leg, waving scarves, beating drums, and igniting flares that painted the scene in fire-like hues. Mounted police struggled to control the energized crowd, with some officers pushing fans off barriers as the team buses arrived in a storm of noise. “This isn’t a warfield, it’s just football madness,” one local said, watching as smoke swirled above chanting crowds.