When you sit down to watch El Clasico, you know what you’re going to get. Whether it’s at the Bernabeu or Nou Camp, when Barcelona and Real Madrid play each other, the football is going to be spectacular. Both sides are filled with world class players in almost every position, and of course have the best two players in the world between them, in Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
While Saturday night’s game wasn’t up to the high standard of recent seasons, it was still a great game to watch. Real started with a bang, a horrendous clearance by Victor Valdes exposing Barcelona’s defence, allowing Karim Benzema to score from close range. Just 23 seconds had passed when Real took the lead, and in the early going it seemed like they were set to dominate. But Barcelona got back into the game, and a mazy run from Messi allowed him to find Alexis Sanchez, who equalised with a composed finish. Barcelona went on to control the game in the second half, with a deflected Xavi shot, then a brilliant header from Cesc Fabregas giving them a 3-1 lead that Real were unable to close.
But El Clasico was not all about the beautiful game. There was plenty of ugliness too, with play acting, crowding of the referee and the waving of imaginary cards. It is something that is a regular feature in the El Clasico matches, as players on both sides do their best to get their opponents in bother with the referee. Perhaps it is unrealistic to hope that the best players in the world can rise above gamesmanship and cheating, but in such a high stakes game, maybe that is impossible.
Click HERE to win tickets to two different Liverpool games:
Even the managers get in on the act. After the second leg of this season’s Spanish Super Cup descended into chaos, Jose Mourinho poked Barcelona assistant Tito Vilanova in the eye amid ugly scenes on the touchline. When Barcelona travelled to Italy to face AC Milan in the Champions League this season, Pep Guardiola was seen waving an imaginary card after Alberto Aquilani fouled Xavi in the penalty area.
Saturday’s match was filled with things like this. An early foul on Alexis Sanchez saw him spring to his feet waving an imaginary card at the referee, and Madrid players crowded the referee when Messi fouled Xabi Alonso, having earlier been booked. Almost every foul resulted in the fouled player over-reacting, rolling around on the ground or waving his arm in apparent distress. That there were only 7 yellow cards shown in the 90 minutes is almost a surprise given the reactions of players to every trip, push or pull.
Something that has always confused me about players doing these things is the apparent lack of shame they have over their actions. Spurs fans will well remember the way Marcelo celebrated when Peter Crouch was sent off against Real Madrid in the Champions League last season, and most people will remember Sergio Busquets peeking through his hands to see what the referee was doing, when Barcelona played Inter Milan in the 2010 Champions League semi-final.
In the NFL, running backs and wide receivers have the mentality that, if you are tackled, you make sure you are the first man back up. Of course, in the NFL, there is no system for bookings. In a perfect world, someone like Ronaldo would just pick himself up with a knowing smile, after being fouled by a fullback. A situation like that shows him that he has the beating of that defender, and that a yellow card is likely. Once his marker is booked, the pressure is on that player to time every challenge perfectly, so Ronaldo would know that if he beats his man, there will be no tackle.
But in modern day football, diving has almost become an art form. There are dramatic falls followed by the waving of an arm to show just how much pain the fouled player is in, the very best divers will add a yell or scream to audibly notify the referee just how awful he feels. Of course, most of these things are supposed to be outlawed from the game already. El Clasico features some of the world’s greatest footballers, but until referees really get tough on players breaking the rules, it will heavily feature the ugly side of the game too.
For more blogs follow me on Twitter @DavidWDougan or @TheGlassCase
Introducing the neat little app that’ll pay you to view content tailored to your interests:
ThisisFutbol.com are seeking new writers to join the team! If you’re passionate about football, drop us a line at “thisisfutbol.com@snack-media.com” to learn more.
Didn’t see much diving on Saturday, to focus a report on that is ridiculous and the crying about it in the Anglosaxon world is starting to get boring. Apart from some kind of feeling of moral superiority (as many dives or complaints in EPL but seems no one cares), it shows a lack of understanding of the game by the commentators, who have played too much fantasy football and no real football. In this game particularly, there were actually too little cards and that 22 players could leave the pitch (especially 11 from Madrid, who made some deadly tackles) only meant the referee was too soft.