As you are probably already aware, this month we are having a close look at some of Real Madrid’s newest football players. When we met up with the German international defender, Christoph Metzelder, we managed to ask him what his “top five sights to see in Madrid” were. Here are his answers:

Interview by Kay Murray

1: Retiro Park

A favourite for many Madrileños, the capital’s most popular and widely visited park is already close to the German defender’s heart. He likes to spend time there when he can, particularly to wind down after an important game.

2: Museo del Prado

As an art lover it is no surprise the famous museum, which contains the world’s greatest assembly of Spanish painting, features in Metzelder’s list.

3: Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza

Regarded by many as the most important privately assembled art collection in the world, including masterpieces by Titian, Goya , Van Gogh and Picasso. The works acquired by Baroness Caremn Thyseen Bornemisza have now been admired by the 27-year-old, who places the magnificent museum in his top five.

4: Asador Donostierra

The restaurant close to the Santiago Bernabeu boasts of offering the most authentic and genuine cuisine in the land, outside of the Basque country. A table reservation is a must at this establishment. If you are lucky enough to secure one, prepare to spend the evening spinning your head Exorcist style as you play spot the Real Madrid star. A definite favourite of the Whites players, including Christoph Metzelder.

5: Meson Txistu

Raul and many of his men celebrated their 30th league title in this restaurant last June. Hopefully Metzelder will be joining them there at the end of this season.
The centre-back is keen to take family and friends to such traditional restaurants “just to give them a feeling of the way of eating out here.”

Six months into Bernd Schuster’s reign at Real Madrid, and we thought that it was high time to see exactly how they are getting on. Flying high in the league and playing the desired attacking brand of football, it seems that at last the fans are satisfied.

For the February issue of European Vibe Magazine we were lucky enough to scoop interviews with three of Real Madrid’s football players. Here, published on the blog for the first ever time is one of these interviews, with Royston Drenthe.

Interview by Kay Murray

“Football is very important for people, but here even more so. Everybody lives for football here. It is amazing.”

With these words, it’s easy to understand what has had the biggest impact on Royston Drenthe since his move to the Spanish capital from Eredivisie side Feyenoord back in August. In fact the intensity of the passion the fans have for Real Madrid was the single most surprising factor of all for the young Dutch starlet.

But at 20-years-old, the baby of the new signings is not averse to making an impact himself, as his superb goal on his Bernabéu debut, a clash with Sevilla in the Supercopa, back in August showed.

Despite his young years, Drenthe is a very confident and extremely approachable young man, always ready to greet you with a big smile and a friendly handshake. It’s this openness that he possesses that has probably helped him to adapt so well to life in Madrid.

His fashionable dreadlocks and style of play have already ensured that he has become somewhat of a favourite among the fans, especially the younger generation. Outside the Santiago Bernabéu on a match day, children - many with his name emblazoned on the back of their shirts- are practically foaming at the mouth in the hope of seeing Holland’s most promising young player.

But for some of these fans, watching the winger on the pitch is just not enough and so they wait outside the stadium after the games to try and catch another glimpse of their new idol. This is something that Royston Drenthe had not experienced before in his blossoming football career.

“After my first game I tried walking to my car, but there were a ton of people there,” laughs the star.

“Everyone was jumping and calling my name. Little kids all over, cameras flashing… I didn’t know what to think!” he adds.

And the scene after the Supercopa game wasn’t just a one off, as the first league match of the season, a meeting with bitter city rivals Atletico Madrid, was to prove.

“After the Atletico Madrid match I wanted to drive my car out of the stadium, and then I saw someone jumping on it. I yelled at him. He pulled the door open and my mother was like, “Woah” . That’s what’s so funny about Madrid. That’s football. I like football and so does everyone else.”

You’re dead right there Royston!

Here are some more photo’s from our day at Real Madrid: