Why did Real Madrid close the roof of the Bernabeu?

Last night, the eyes of the football world were once again focused on the Santiago Bernabeu, where a match that forcefully entered the recent history of the Champions League took place. The home team, Real Madrid, faced off against the reigning champions, Manchester City. The stadium, which has been the stage for many of the Blancos' victories, showed its complete retractable roof for the first time since its extensive renovation last year, which transformed its silhouette. This unique innovation for the Champions League, used to playing under the starry sky while the stars shine on the field, was even described by Pep Guardiola, a habitué of cup nights, as a true oddity. «I have never played in a stadium with a closed roof, I am curious to discover the conditions,» said the Catalan coach before the match, while immediately after the explosive 3-3 draw in the first leg, he reprimanded Real's patron Florentino Perez for the field, in his opinion, not being up to par with the rest of the stadium. 

But why did Real Madrid want to close the roof of the Santiago Bernabeu in what was undoubtedly one of the most important matches of the season? There seem to be two reasons. The first is the club's desire to transform a stadium that is already extremely intimidating and vocal into a true infernal cauldron, thanks to the box effect and the echo produced by the fans' chants. To close the roof, Real had to request permission from UEFA, which was granted the afternoon before kick-off. The retractable roof was added to the stadium during the 1.76 billion euro (1.91 billion pounds) renovation project that began in 2019 and was completed at the beginning of this season. 

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The other reason that may have led Real Madrid to close its roof was the terrorist alert that was triggered in the last hours and involved the four Champions League matches on Tuesday and Wednesday. Real Madrid played with the roof closed for the first time in their 2-1 victory against Getafe in September 2023. The roof was also closed for the return leg of the Champions League round of 16 against RB Leipzig in March, drawing 1-1 after a 1-0 win in Germany, but the match against Manchester City had a completely different appeal.