El Clasico – The Rivalry That Just Keeps Getting Better!

EL Clasico, regardless of if you follow La Liga or not, as a matter of fact regardless if you follow football or not, El Clasico is something you must have heard somewhere or the other and you must know something about it. Yes for all the football noobs, it is “just a football match” between Real Madrid and Barcelona. Just a football match, well not so much. It is a match when there are more stars on the pitch than there are in the sky and everyone wants to watch this match. The rivalry is unmatched over all the leagues around the world. El Clasico brings the best and worst out of the players, coaches, journalists, viewers. It catches everyone there is to catch.

It represents a match between two footballing superpowers and a war between the political Spanish nationalism and Barcelona’s Catanalism. Real Madrid leads the head to head results in competitive matches with 88 wins. Barcelona leads the count in official titles won with 79 trophies while Real Madrid has 76 trophies.

Many amazing matches have taken place between the two clubs and the best footballers of their generation have played for these clubs , sometimes they have played for both of them. For example, Ronaldo, Figo, Rivaldo, Saviola, Michael Laudrup etc. Now they have Messi and Ronaldo, but before these two amazing talents, Real and Barca have each a legend, Di Stefano for Real and Johan Cryuff for Barca. Each had unparalleled success with their clubs and went on define the ‘El Clasico’ in their respect. Fans are still in awe of them and why not, even if you breathe Messi or Roanldo, one cannot simply move past these greats. They define their clubs and this rivalry. If it hadn’t been for both these clubs being so competitive since day one , the rivalry may not have become what it is today. There is a constant sensation of not being behind the other and leaving all other rivalries behind. One cannot simply lose to Barcelona if you’re Real Madrid and vice versa. That’s the thing that makes the tie so mouthwatering and when the two sides meet, there is no love lost, it’s not just about football, points or bragging rights. It is about the satisfaction of beating the other and showing them their place. Maybe it is because of this reason that these two sides may have become the two best club football sides in the world and well La Liga is won just by them now.

Recently Barcelona had a 7 match unbeaten run against Real, thrashing them twice in the process and both at the Bernabeu. But Real have pegged them back. But this match is a MUST NOT LOSE GAME for Real cause well if they lose this, they’d be 11 points behind Barcelona, a deficit too much to recover from considering how strong Barcelona is as compared to the other league teams and the previous results. Let’s hope it is a cracker and some good football is seen unlike the recent times when there has been a lot of play acting and controversy surrounding this fixture. Barcelona have enjoyed a sensational start to their campaign while Real are eight points behind them. All the build up to this fixture is amazing and well it can be said it will be nothing short of spectacular when it does take place. Messi vs Ronaldo, well not so much. There is so much more to it than that. Alonso and Iniesta play an equally important role. While Iniesta’s work is now being acknowledged, the same cannot be said for Alonso, who keeps Madrid ticking and ask Tito, his plan would be to stop Alonso as much as to stop Ronaldo.

Well I hope the match goes without much controversy and some amazing moments are cherished and witnessed by the fans around the world.