Soccer in Madrid

If you go to the Real Madrid website you can buy tickets. We did this 5 years ago. I was told that there was a good chance you get scammed if you go to ticket sellers. If you can get tickets, arrive at the stadium early (an hour or more). The fans get something to eat and drink before the match. If you get there early you can get a seat in one of the small restaurants around the perimeter of the stadium. There is very little to eat and/ or drink in the stadium. And unless it has changed no alcoholic beverages (the non-alcoholic beer is not bad though). Hope you are able to go. It was a blast.

Don't visit the Real Madrid website for tickets to an Athletico game! I just checked, and through Ticketmaster (Spain) there were tickets, albeit expensive ones available right now. This is how I bought tickets for a Barca-Sevilla match in April. There may be more seats available through the Athletico website, I can't get on that site at the moment. Note the game day and time will not yet be confirmed, I understand this doesn't happen until a few days prior to the match. Check your tour dates carefully to ensure there is no risk that you will miss the game if they change the date to a day earlier or later. (which has been known to happen). Seeing a La Liga game in Spain will be an amazing experience for you, especially Barca. We were also lucky enough to see the Champions League quarter final game between Athletico and Real Madrid at the Bernebeau and it was quite a thrill! Have fun!

If you can't find tickets or don't want to pay the asking price, there's another La Liga matches in Madrid that same weekend, albeit between teams usually in the middle to bottom of the table. Rayo Vallecano (suburb of Madrid) is at home v. Deportivo La Coruna. The other two Madrid teams (Real and Getafe) are playing away that weekend.