Real Madrid, Barcelona Struggle To Fill Stadiums For La Liga Openers

Real Madrid drew a crowd of less than 50,000 for its home La Liga opener.GETTY IMAGES

Real Madrid's 2-0 win over Getafe on Sunday night drew a crowd of 48,446 -- "the lowest turnout" since the club's last home match before Cristiano Ronaldo's arrival in '09, according to Robbie Dunne of ESPN.com. La Liga's decision to play the game at 10:15pm local time "is likely to have affected the attendance," and there has been "speculation over what effect Ronaldo's departure would have on the club" (ESPN.com, 8/20). In Madrid, Luis Alberto Díaz reported a crowd of 52,356 attended Barcelona's victory over Alavés at Camp Nou. Neither Barcelona nor Real Madrid had "attracted a crowd that small for a home opener in the last decade." Attendance for both Real Madrid and Barcelona has "been decreasing progressively" for the last three seasons since '15-16 (MARCA, 8/20).