We’ve had several weeks of almost non-stop rain in Madrid, something very rare that has only happened a few times in history. Normally, it rains for a few days, then we get some good weather, then it rains again—but not this continuously.
Yesterday, during the Real Madrid vs Arsenal match in the Women’s Champions League, you could see how bad the pitch was at the Alfredo Di Stéfano Stadium (which is located in Real Madrid’s training complex in Valdebebas, in the north of Madrid, Spain).
The 2016 match
Interestingly, this reminds us of a moment from years ago that some of you might recall. There’s a famous photo of Cristiano Ronaldo from that match, where it rained so much that his jersey became completely see-through—something that hadn’t happened in decades (though it probably did in the Di Stéfano era).
But… why did it happen? It was a Real Madrid vs Sporting de Gijón, which Real Madrid won 2-1, with 2 goals of Cristiano Ronaldo, but the real star of the game was the rain, especially how the jerseys ended up completely transparent.
🌧️🌧️🌧️ pic.twitter.com/lSI394BnHo
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid) March 18, 2025
The funny thing is that this happened not only because of the rain but also because, for that match, Real Madrid wore special jerseys made from 100% recycled plastic as part of an Adidas campaign with an NGO Marine life to raise awareness about recycling. What no one expected was that it would rain so hard, making the jerseys almost completely transparent, with neither the badge nor the sponsor visible! 😂
Luckily, the numbers on the back were not made from that material, so the referee had no issue allowing the game to continue. (If the numbers had been unreadable, he could have stopped the match.)