Romeo and Juliet is not the only love story that took place in Verona. There’s another one that might be even stronger (and cooler in our opinion), and it’s a story about football – the love of the Veronesi for Hellas Verona.

Romance

As every love story, it has its ups and downs, happy and heartbreaking moments, scandals, reconciliation, failures and successes.

It’s a story of never giving up, of always being there for each other, of suffering with the hope that it will get better.

Because as for many stories like this one, in the end love always wins.

Now, I know it sounds like I’m describing the plot of a cheap movie. But hey, you have to trust me on this because by the end I guarantee you will want Shakespeare to have written about Hellas Verona instead of Romeo and Juliet.

To tell you this story as accurately as possible, I decided to head to Verona and witness this romance for myself.

Verona-Roma is the game and I’m ready to go.

Agenda

Monday, October 31st, 10 am.

The game is in eight hours, but I want to experience the city on a match-day so I’m already getting prepared.

I’m buzzing.

I brush my teeth with mint-flavoured toothpaste, put on brown velvet pants, a sand turtleneck, and spray a good amount of the fruity/flower-scent perfume swiped from my dad.

It’s a love story we’re talking about, so I need to be at the top of my game.

After collecting my cameras and a couple of films, I head over to the train station. It’s a two hour ride to the city, going through the Italian north-east countryside, that at this moment of the year is sprinkled with yellow and orange colours.

Autumn vibes.

Despite what seems to be a grey day, the closer I get to the city, the more the sky clears out. When I get there it seems like it’s all set for the perfect fairy tale.

Rays of sunshine are breaking through the clouds, illuminating the different corners and showing Verona in all its splendor.

Like in a good ol’ love story, right?

I have a few more stops before heading over to the stadium.

Verona is brimming with history; asidefrom the famous Juliet’s balcony (overrated if you ask me), the symbol of the city is, without a doubt, the Roman Arena located in Bra Square.

The City

Then there’s Piazza Delle Erbe (Square of the Herbs), a former Roman city’s forum with many stalls selling a bit of everything, Castelvecchio (Old Castle), and just outside of it Ponte deli Scaligeri (Scaligeri Bridge) crossing the Adige river.

The Scaligeri family was a dynasty that reigned over the city for 125 years (between 1262 and 1367).

Their symbol, a ladder with either four or five ‘pioli’ (steps), is a key element of Verona, and you can find several references to it around the city. Including the Hellas Verona crest.

Now stop for a moment and check the crest's club.

Among the People

See the ladder? Yep, it’s those lines you see in the middle.

And the two figures on the side? Those are mastiffs, there to honour two of the most important lords of the city, who made Verona thrive. Their names? Mastino della Scala I and II (mastiffs of the ladder).

The love of the club for its people. It’s getting interesting, isn’t it? As for the club, Hellas Verona was born much later.

April 1903.

At this time, football was only a thing in the Milan-Turin-Genoa area (north-west of Italy), while in the surroundings it was neglected.

But you know how addictive the beautiful game can be.

Workers, farmers and students (basically people like us) all want to play. They want a proper team in the city– and they make it happen. A group of high school students founded the club, naming it Associazione Calcio Hellas.

Initially, they only play local matches, but soon face teams in the surrounding areas, sacrificing time and money to get their name out there. In 1929 they finally make their Serie A debut..

The love of the people for its club. And now it’s time for us to witness this love in person.

I still have two hours before the game, but as I walk towards the Bentegodi stadium I can already spot the first Hellas supporters here and there. They’re meeting in the bars and kiosks surrounding the area.

It’s probably a tradition as they prepare for the game: same place, same time, same love. As it has always been and will always be.

The Bentegodi Bar is the most energetic one I see, with fans discussing the team lineup or chanting, while drinking liters of beers and smoking dozens of cigarettes.

The stadium is huge. Built in 1963 and renovated for the 1990 World Cup, it has massive blocks of concrete leading supporters to the stands and graffiti portraying the club’s crest all over.

The sun is about to go down as I walk in, gifting me with romantic rays of light filtering in. You can feel the tension in the air.

It’s electric. After a quick tour of the inside, I’m lucky enough to see the two clubs warming up.

On the Pitch

Verona has been on a negative streak lately, but they recently changed the coach and the players are willing to give it all on the pitch. I can see it in their eyes.

They love the club, they love the people. And they want to proudly show this love out there.

Roma on the other hand is doing quite well under Jose Mourinho, despite the injury of Dybala and Abraham’s goal abstinence.

Everything is set. It’s game time.

The home team starts with the right attitude, creating different chances. And at the 26th minute they get their payoff.

Corner, the ball is cleared out just for the captain Davide Faraoni to shoot. His teammate Dawidowicz perfectly deflects it. Rui Patricio on one side, the ball on the other and 1-0 Hellas.

The Comeback

But the plot twist is just around the corner, and after what seemed to be a normal game collision, the referee turns the game upside down. Red is often associated with love, but there’s no such sentiment in the air as the ref waves the red card in Dawidowicz’s face. Early shower for him and one man down for Verona.

From this moment on, Roma takes the lead of the game, but the home team however fights tooth and nail. Unfortunately this is not enough, and right before the end of the first half, Roma even the score.

The second half is a real battle. Verona parks the bus, rejecting every Roma assault heroically. It’s no time to give up and that’s exactly what they’re doing.

But I told you, this is a story of both happy and heartbreaking moments, and at the 88th minute, Verona's heart sadly breaks.

Volpato receives the ball from Matić outside the box, and sends it in the bottom-right corner for the 1-2. The yellow-blue players are shattered, and concede another goal in the extra-time. 1-3 and game over.

The negative streak goes on, and so you could imagine the silence the supporters leave the stadium with after yet another defeat.

But the opposite happened. The love between Veronesi and Hellas Verona is stronger than any failure.

Like kids reconciling with their parents after a disappointing episode, the Verona players approach the home stands to thank their supporters, who only start singing louder than ever to show their appreciation.

This is pure love.

As I leave the stadium, I have no doubts that Hellas Verona will be back soon, because as I said, in the end love always wins.

This was our Day Out in Verona.

Day Out: Verona

Day Out: Paris

Day Out: Venice