Barcelona vs. Real Madrid in Vegas

LAS VEGAS — Before the mass of humanity gathered around Allegiant Stadium on Saturday night could come into focus, the faint beats of drums filled the air. Then the faint repetition of the chants, which eventually crescendoed to a peak outside the gates. And then the smell of a flare, a burning odor competing with the delicious aromas of street vendors, came wafting across parking lots. Spotted in the distance was the purple smoke from that flare, a sign that it was hoisted by a Real Madrid fan.

It didn’t take long to figure out that this wasn’t going to be a typical crowd for a sporting event — an exhibition game, at that, as part of their preseason training — played on American soil.

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“It was a beautiful experience for all the supporters of Real Madrid and Barcelona having it here,” Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti told ESPN. “The stadium is fantastic and the atmosphere too. So, we’re really happy to be here.”

The scene outside Allegiant Stadium for Saturday night’s El Clasico between Real Madrid and Barcelona, two of the most famous clubs on the planet, rivaled that of any major game in the country across any sport. It was a marriage of what Americans know and love about sports. It had the jovial energy of an NCAA tournament crowd filing in for March Madness. It sounded like the most heated rivalries in college football inside. It had the tension of a Game 7 for the fans who never get to see their clubs in person.

Yet, it didn’t matter. It was a “friendly,” part of both club’s U.S. tour and just the second Clasico to be played in America. Almost 62,000 people descended on Allegiant Stadium to get a chance to see their teams up close against each other in one of the most famed matches in soccer, and Ancelotti made sure to point out that the atmosphere was definitely different than a Clasico in Spain. “Bernabeu was our…