Great Rivalries can be huge enough to impassion countries and cities. They’re powerful enough to launch fiery debates out of seemingly mundane subjects. They can be small and strange enough to consume just a few people for years — and the rest of us for at least the time it takes to flip through this list of Great Rivalries. In terms of quality, history, significance, grievance and identity, El Clasico remains at the pinnacle of football rivalries but the paucity of away fans at each game does tend to stop an always electric atmosphere becoming positively nuclear. The pig’s head Barca fans threw at Luis Figo has come to symbolise the disdain felt by one side for the other, or rather for apostates and defectors, but it’s rather a recent confection – Bernd Schuster, Michael Laudrup and Luis Enrique never faced such opprobrium.
El Clásico is a game above any other game in Spain and in the football world. Barcelona and Real Madrid have been going at it since 1929; every year, there are new story lines. The two best teams in La Liga and arguably the two best teams in the world bring out so many emotions on and off the pitch. While the players will take the pitch this Monday to play for the crest that is on their shirt, it is that crest that brings out so many emotions for us, the fans.
For fans, the keyword for El Clásico is “versus”. Throughout the years, it has always been “this person” versus “that person” in addition to the teams against each other. Now more than ever and due to the high-profile names, versus becomes so much more significant. This makes it so much more passionate for us fans. José Mourinho vs. Pep Guardiola, Luis Enrique vs Carlo Ancelotti, Enrique vs Zidane, Lionel Messi vs. Cristiano Ronaldo, and so on. What El Clásico means to fans is taking a firm stand by your team more than ever. Fans know there is no middle ground. You can’t like Real Madrid and kind of like how Barcelona plays and vice versa. You can respect it but by no means like it. The key factor that fans of both teams may not admit is the element of fear that comes with a Clásico game. Fear of the realization that your team is not as good as the other team. Fear of that first goal. Fear that your team will not step up. Fear of the ridicule you will receive by the fans of the other team. Fear that your team could let you down and the fear that your team will lose. For us fans, the thought of a loss is tough to swallow, let alone accept.
“The threat is stronger than the execution” is a term that has been used in chess. Some interpret this as the idea that the threat of getting beat with strategic moves is at times a greater tactic and much more of an impact than the actual move itself. This is because the threat changes your opponent’s tactics and psyche.
This saying holds true in El Clásico. From the coaches’ decisions to how the players play, the threat of a goal and the threat of getting beat is at times stronger than the play or goal itself. If you’re a Culé, you worry about the Madrid counterattack. If you’re a Madridista, you worry about Barça’s tiki-taka ball possession play although that has changed with the quadruple of MSN and Enrique’s genius. The idea of seeing your team lose is at times a greater source of stress to fans’ psyche than the actual loss itself. This is what makes Clásicos so great: it’s a high-stakes chess match that has everyone—including fans—tense, unlike any other game in the year. Spain conquered Catalonia in the 18th century and, for centuries, Catalans have been discriminated against socially and politically. Catalans feel the monarchy has always and will always discriminate against them. They believe the monarchy will do everything to hold the Catalan people down.
Let’s bring football back into the picture. Real Madrid is obviously not at fault for the monarchy’s decisions and the struggles of the Catalan people. But Real Madrid has always been and will always be the symbol of Spanish nationalism, thus they are the target of Catalan dislike. Yes, and the fact that Real wins a lot also makes Culés nuts too. FC Barcelona has been the symbol of Catalan pride. Other Catalan teams like RCD Espanyol and Terrassa FC do not have the legacy and the following like the Blaugrana. When these two teams that represent differing social and political viewpoints collide, Spain is divided and El Clásico becomes more than a derby. Catalans tend to take the derby a bit more to heart than Madrid fans. I can tell you this is true because many Catalans continue to see themselves as being in a struggle with Spain and the monarchy. Their pride is on the line when the Blaugrana play Los Blancos. In fairness, Madrid fans in Spain take losses better than the Culés. As much as Madrid fans trash talk and will always try to minimalise Barcelona, I truly do believe they respect Barça. However, the scandalous Madrid media is a completely other story. Many Catalans take losses too seriously and too personally. They can’t help it because El Clásico is one of the few ways Catalans are able to fight and try to claim victory against the Spanish monarchy. Culés respect Real Madrid and what they have accomplished in their club’s history. On Sunday, we are going to be treated to another chapter in El Clásico history. For all the Real Madrid and Barcelona fans across the world, it’s a matter of love and loyalty. For Spaniards and Catalans who are fans of the teams, this is more than a game. It may not be a close game, it may not be an exciting game and it may not live up to all the hype. One thing I can guarantee you: it’s going to be an emotional game for us fans. What kind of emotions that you will feel depends on what your team does on the pitch. Now coming to the present, Barcelona actually played very well in their Champions League quarter-final against Juventus, and I think it’s a pity they went out as they are still a better team than the Italians, but it also seemed clear that the anxiety of a 3-0 deficit from the first leg had got to them. They were rushing shots they wouldn’t usually have, and were clearly hurting and frustrated at the end of the game. Real Madrid were the opposite. Their match against Bayern Munich was just as emotionally intense but so much more chaotic, yet still allowed them the ultimate release – and relief. They got through it and went through to the semi-finals. Out of that chaos, they still conquered. We have never been into the ambience of the dressing rooms but what we can imagine after similar games and, even if the match exposed flaws in your side, you had to really see it to understand the meaning such victories can have for teams; how they can bolster belief to provide the greater application that helps overcome those flaws in the future. It was exactly like that after Liverpool so narrowly but so rousingly knocked Chelsea out of the Champions League semi-finals in 2005 and 2007, or in the 2005 quarterfinals against Juventus. The lads really had to defend deep and dig deep in both, but coming through those ties fostered the feeling that it was our year. That is not just a trite line of speech, but can be a very persuasive line of thinking that does enhance performance. It is what Real Madrid could well benefit from in this Clasico. They approach it from a really positive emotional experience that will only increase their belief after a brilliant run of form. They will also arrive with a positive winning mentality, knowing that just avoiding defeat could go a long way to winning the league. They have got an edge to their game right now, but also a game plan. One criticism of Zinedine Zidane – and the club in general over the past few seasons – is that they don’t have a defined idea as a team, but I don’t think that applies right now. Sure, it’s different to how Barca’s lines move together in combined play, but there is clear direction to Real. Toni Kroos and Luka Modric build from the middle and either try to get it quickly to the star front men, or get it out to the wide areas, where Real are especially strong. When they do go to the flanks, the strikers move inside, and allow Dani Carvajal and – especially Marcelo to attack. Marcelo’s game against Bayern was top notch, edge perfect, whatever superlative you want to use for a transformed playmaker. He is probably the best attacking full-back in the game at the moment, and also the full-back who most influences play. Beyond all that, there is Casemiro filling the gaps. It remains to be seen whether Barca can exploit any gaps, though. They are not building their own play, the passing football from the back, in the way they had been even a few weeks ago. Their midfielders are not in great form, and that has meant the ball does not arrive with the front players in the best way. As such, there have been so many games where we see Leo Messi and Neymar drop back too deep to get the ball. They end up much too far away from the box, and then having to make too many individual decisions. Neymar has been trying to take a lot of responsibility and Barca have been productive on the left through his work with Jordi Alba but, on the opposite wing, Messi is coming inside too much. He doesn’t have anything like the same combination play with Luis Suarez that he did a few months ago, and the net effect is that it takes Barca’s width away and removes penetration on the right wing. Ivan Rakitic is then too busy filling gaps in the middle, while Sergi Roberto is too deep. Ultimately, the team just isn’t moving together in the way we would classically identify with Barcelona. Analysing all of this – as well as the fact that Real have a much deeper squad – it really does look good for Zidane’s side. The emotion, the tactics, the momentum – it’s all with them. As with any Clasico or any similar big game, though, these arguments lose weight if there is an early goal or if one team doesn’t perform as they should on the day. Real could well be a little complacent from how things are going much better for them, while it is possible that the potential consequence of the game properly focuses Barca. That happens with these fixtures sometimes too. Since Barca know how decisive not winning would be, it can make all their players come to a realisation that this is a last opportunity, and bring a clarity and focus that wasn’t previously there. The hope for us is that this happens, as it can set the tie up for an even more epic game than we saw in the Champions League. ‘This could yet be a unique Clasico in its own right.’
With only just an hour to go, Real Madrid and Barcelona will meet for the 234th time overall and the second this season when El Clasico takes place on Sunday at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu. Of those matches, 93 have been won by Los Blancos while Los Cules have emerged victorious 91 times. The edge is undecided and is not ready to stick towards one. Ranging from the young Leo bagging a hat-trick and mighty Ronaldinho casting the magic spell to the immaculate sprint of Bale down the wings and one Special man called Cristiano Ronaldo leaving no stones unturned, El Clasico has developed an independent charisma over the years. Today once again the world will stop for 90 minutes to witness something unseen, something unfelt and surely something terrestrial. Gravity is bounded! May the better side win! Until then, go for glory!
Nobody expects a 4-0when Superman and Batman meets.
Saptarshi Guha 