Real Madrid suffered their lowest La Liga attendance since 2009 on Sunday with just 48,446 turning up for their clash with Getafe.
The fixture was the first league game with new Coach Julen Lopetegui at the helm with Madrid running out 2-0 victors thanks to goals from Dani Carvajal and Gareth Bale.
The primary factor behind the lowly attendance is likely to be the late kick-off time, with the match not getting underway until 10.15pm local time and not finishing until after midnight.
The previous night, Barcelona’s home match with Alaves (also with a 10.15pm start) attracted just 52,356 fans – 47,000 shy of the Camp Nou’s capacity.
La Liga reason that summer temperatures mean night matches make greater sense at this time of the year while the crowds are also likely to have been impacted by many locals being on holiday, with August the peak season for breaks in Spain.
The previous attendance low dates back to May 2009 when Madrid, under Juande Ramos, lost 3-1 at home to Real Mallorca.
