It’s the most widely followed game in club football: and why wouldn’t it be? Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Alves & Sanchez and that’s just Barcelona’s contribution. But this time round, it was the smaller figures, the ones on the table, that mattered more than the viewing figures. If Barcelona lost, then Jose Mourinho’s men would open up a six point gap; and that would be with a game in hand too.
If Mourinho’s record and poker face was to be believed, Pep Guardiola was set for a season of catch-up and with The Special One’s self-assessing words in the air, “judge me on my second season,” ringing around La Liga like a school bell, all eyes were on how Barcelona would match Madrid, not the opposite.
Labeling Old Trafford the Theatre of Dreams is justified, if Santiago Bernabeu is the Stage of Legends, because that is what it was late Saturday night; the coming together of two greats, Barcelona and Real Madrid, the amalgamation of the the three-man Ballon d-Or shortlist and the clash of two managerial masters.
Going into the contest, Real Madrid had won the last 72 games they’d taken the lead in and 22 seconds after the referee had signaled the start of this derby, the Catalan giants were behind. To ensure a balanced and passionate account of El Clasico was achieved, I caught up with two rival fans.
O.Townsend, Barcelona Fan:
It was a commanding victory in the end from Los Cules, outclassing Real Madrid after weathering the early storm. Given the massive importance of this game, the early goal was terrifying from a Barca point of view, but they showed great composure to work their way into the game. By the end, it could and should have been more than 3. Particularly satisfying, was seeing Ronaldo once again show that he isn’t on the same level as Messi, by barely having an impact on the game and falling short when he had the opportunities. He might be a great flat-track bully, tearing weak opponents apart, but he’s not a big game player like the Barca boys are. We can now go to Japan as the top team in Spain this season. Alves had a great game, though can anyone work out where he was actually playing today?! Not even Mourinho has an answer to Barca’s style of football, which shone through in the end. Refreshingly the game didn’t turn sour this time either.
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A.Goddard, Real Madrid Fan:
Real Madrid’s intentions were clear from the very first whistle, get at them. Barcelona’s defence refused to play long balls and Valdes was guilty of a terrible clearance; pressure from those in white, a slice of luck, and 1-0 – Benzema. Madrid were massively lifted by this and Barca looked shocked. The first 20 minutes were dominated by the home side and Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets couldn’t string more than a few passes together. Barcelona struck back after a moment of magic from Messi released Sanchez to finish expertly. Moments earlier Ronaldo had squandered a clear opportunity with Di Maria better placed for a certain goal to his right.
The match before half time was more akin to basketball with both teams breaking at speed; counter attacks were followed by counter attacks. After the break it was Barcelona’s turn to make the early impact. They took the lead when a somewhat innocuous looking effort from Xavi took a cruel deflection and beat Casillas. Madrid needed their talisman Ronaldo to step up with a moment of brilliance. He had two free kick opportunities in quick succession. Cue the trademark backward steps, the puff of the cheeks, but sadly for the home side, both efforts failed to truly test the rather erratic looking Valdes. But another chance fell the Portguese’s way, a well-crafted move down the left, a sublime clip by Xabi Alonso and the ball landed on Ronaldo’s head. However, the man who scored a wonderful header to beat Barca in the Copa Del Rey last season, fluffed his lines again.
That moment proved crucial, as within barely a minute, a strikingly similar move saw Barca add a third. A sumptuous whipped cross invited Cesc Fabregas to arrive and unlike Ronaldo, the former Arsenal skipper finished with aplomb.
Barcelona were now set. Madrid made changes with Kaka, Khedira and Higuain introduced. However, Mourinho’s troops had lost their way somewhat and the cunningly devised game plan which was so effective in the first half descended to desperation. Surprisingly for a Clasico, the game rather petered out.