Ciudad Deportiva del Real Valladolid

The training complex sits apart from the José Zorrilla itself, which says something about how Real Valladolid has organised its footballing life over the decades — matchday and preparation kept in separate corners of the city rather than under one roof.

The Ciudad Deportiva grew out of the club's need for a base that could hold up under everyday use, away from the wear of a stadium pitch. Its own address, Avenida del Mundial 82, carries an echo of 1982 and the World Cup that reshaped the club's main ground that year, even though the training facility is a distinct site with its own history.

Grass covers the pitches here, the same choice made across the club's senior stadium, so players move between the two surfaces without adjusting their footing or their game.

What the complex lacks in spectacle it makes up for in function: this is where the first team and the academy sides put in the hours that never make it onto a scoreboard, the repetitive work behind whatever happens on Sundays at the José Zorrilla.