Real Madrid vs. Olympique de Marseille

September 30, 2009 - Champions League Group Stage

Real Madrid 3 - 0 Olympique de Marseille

The key to getting good images is to be close to the action.  I typically try to get tickets in the first few rows behind one of the goals.  These tickets are generally relatively inexpensive due to the fact that while you are close to the field, you really do not have an overview of what is going on.  In this case I was 8 rows up directly behind a goal, perhaps the worst possible view as I had the crossbar directly in front of me.  Despite this fact I managed a few acceptable images including this shot from Cristiano Ronaldo.

From this location direcly in the middle behind the goal it is possible to get good images of players on the wings preparing crosses or dribbling towards the goal.

After realising that there were several empty seats in the far corner, I decided to try to move during halftime from my location to the other end of the field near the goal to which Real Madrid would be attacking in the second half. I fortunately found an unoccupied seat on the side near the corner flag again around 8 rows up. 

This turned out to be a very good decision as I ended up being almost directly in front of the area where the Madrid players came to celebrate all three goals.

In this picture Cristiano Ronaldo gives the thumbs up after scoring the initial goal.

The Swedish referee awarded a penalty on this occasion after Souleymane Diawara brought Ronaldo down with a hard tackle in the area.  Diawara was shown his second yellow card on the play and was sent off.

 Finally, the best images are always about capturing emotion and the expressions of the players.  This image shows the three new stars on the Real Madrid team: Kaka, Karim Benzema, and Cristiano Ronaldo celebrating after a goal.









More images from this match can be found at http://mtrommer.zenfolio.com/madrid-marseille