Bengals take a temporary Paycor Stadium to Madrid: a 201-person charter, 17 pallets of Gatorade, two practices at Spain’s national team base and a Friday party in El Retiro

The Bengals left Cincinnati for Madrid on Tuesday night on a charter carrying 201 people, with 60 lay-flat seats for the eight-hour flight. They have Wednesday off, then practice Thursday and Friday at Spain’s national football team base, about 20 miles northwest of the city.

Director of operations Jeff Brickner has planned the trip since May. He collected players’ passports that month and filed 130-page banquet orders for the hotel instead of the usual 90. Equipment manager Adam Knollman is carrying an extra 2,000 pounds on top of the 10,000 pounds the team moves for an AFC North road game.

Some supplies went ahead by ocean freight and reached the practice complex, stadium and hotel two weeks ago, including 17 pallets of water and sports drink and IT gear for the meeting rooms. Trainer Roberto Cardona, who speaks fluent Spanish, is helping with translation, and chef Ory Maxwell will serve a daily dish with a Spanish touch, such as jamón.

The Bernabéu’s grass is a Bermuda and ryegrass hybrid on a hydraulic tray system that slides out from under the stadium. Brickner is sending each player four to six pairs of shoes in different stud lengths. Captain Ted Karras expects the retractable roof to be closed on Sunday.

After the game, all of the equipment stays behind to speed up the flight home. It goes on a truck, then a commercial plane to Newark, New Jersey, on Monday, and is trucked to Cincinnati in time for Wednesday’s practice. “That’s going to be a weird feeling walking out of the locker room like that,” Knollman says.

The official NFL Shop opens at the Bernabéu on Thursday, daily from 10:00 to 20:00 Madrid time through Monday. The Bengals’ fan party at El Retiro Park is Friday from 20:00 to 23:00, and the Who Dey Nation meetup is Saturday evening. Bengals-Falcons kicks off Sunday, November 8, at 3:30 p.m. Madrid time.