2023-10-26 18:38:42
The Barça-Real Madrid match that will be hosted this Saturday at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium will delve into the rejuvenating trend that the classic has adopted since the decline of the golden age championed by Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. The starring roles that five years ago continued to correspond to the two veteran stars who personified with their individual fight to become the main football legend of the 21st century, the greatest collective rivalry that the beautiful game has ever known will fall on this occasion to Balde, Gavi, Araujo , Joao Félix, Lamine Yamal, Camavinga, Valverde, Bellingham, Rodrygo or Vinicius. A brilliant crop of young people who have taken command based on talent and self-confidence to turn the match that attracts all attention into a true ‘baby’ classic.
On May 6, 2018, Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo saw each other for the last time on the pitch as banners for Barça and Real Madrid, respectively. The duel played that night at the Camp Nou with the League already resolved in favor of the Barça side and the whites guarding their weapons for what would be their thirteenth victorious assault on the old European Cup ended with a 2-2 draw. Luis Suárez opened the scoring ten minutes into the game and Cristiano Ronaldo immediately equalized. Messi put the home team ahead again shortly after the restart, but Bale sealed the final 2-2 with a pass from Asensio.
Average age of the foreseeable elevens
from the classic of 28-O
Ter Stegen
I cancel
Araujo
Christensen
Bucket
Oriol Romeu
Gavi
Gündogan
Lamine Yamal
Lewandowski
Joao Felix
Kepa
Carvajal
Rüdiger
Alaba
Camavinga
Tchouaméni
Valverde
Kroos
Bellingham
Rodrygo
Vinicius
Source: self made
Average age of the foreseeable elevens
from the classic of 28-O
Ter Stegen
I cancel
Araujo
Christensen
Bucket
Oriol Romeu
Gavi
Gündogan
Lamine Yamal
Lewandowski
Joao Felix
Kepa
Carvajal
Rüdiger
Alaba
Camavinga
Tchouaméni
Valverde
Kroos
Bellingham
Rodrygo
Vinicius
Source: self made
Average age of the foreseeable elevens
from the classic of 28-O
Source: self made
Average age of the foreseeable elevens
from the classic of 28-O
Source: self made
It was Iniesta’s last classic, the previous controversy over Real Madrid’s decision not to give the new League champion a pass was followed by the controversy over the performance of the Canarian referee Alejandro Hernández Hernández and the elevens that both Ernesto Valverde and Zinedine Zidane had. They were a true reflection of a time in which the two giants of Spanish football danced to the sound of their old rockers.
The average age of the lineup that Barça had that Sunday was 28.54 years. Umtiti, who was 24 years old at the time, was the youngest starter the Txingurri presented, and Iniesta, at 33, was the one who had the most ‘tacos’ on his DNI. Four other culés footballers were over thirty. Real Madrid started with an average age of 29.27 years. Varane, at 25, was the cherub of Zizou’s troop and Cristiano, at 33, the one who had seen parading the most days. Four other visitors in their thirties posed next to the Portuguese.
Average age of the foreseeable elevens
from the classic of 28-O
Ter Stegen
Sergi Roberto
Pique
Umtiti
Jordi Alba
Rakitic
Busquets
Coutinho
Iniesta
Messi
Luis Suarez
Keylor Navas
Nacho
Early
Sergio Ramos
Marcelo
Casemiro
Kroos
Modric
Bale
Benzema
C. Ronaldo
*Average age of the elevens in the last classic that faced Cristiano Ronaldo and Leo Messi (05/06/2018)
Source: self made
Middle age in the last classic
of Messi and Cristiano*
Ter Stegen
Sergi Roberto
Pique
Umtiti
Jordi Alba
Rakitic
Busquets
Coutinho
Iniesta
Messi
Luis Suarez
Keylor Navas
Nacho
Early
Sergio Ramos
Marcelo
Casemiro
Kroos
Modric
Bale
Benzema
Cristiano Ronaldo
*Average age of the elevens in the last classic that faced Cristiano Ronaldo and Leo Messi (05/06/2018)
Source: self made
Middle age in the last classic
of Messi and Cristiano*
*Average age of the elevens in the last classic that faced Cristiano Ronaldo and Leo Messi (05/06/2018)
Source: self made
Middle age in the last classic
of Messi and Cristiano*
*Average age of the elevens in the last classic that faced Cristiano Ronaldo and Leo Messi (05/06/2018)
Source: self made
Although the names of the 22 footballers who will form this Saturday’s start in Montjuic remain a mystery that Xavi Hernández and Carlo Ancelotti will have to clear up based on strategies, fitness levels and medical reports, one thing seems clear: the average age of the Barça and Real Madrid elevens will be significantly lower than the other one from five years ago. The most feasible lineup for the Chamartín team will be around 26 years old and that of the culé squad will be somewhere around there, and may even be reduced if the 35-year-old Lewandowski is not part of the game.
Need and strategy
Whether the Polish striker plays or not, the cards featuring the Barça and Whites will also be children of their time. Barça, beset by debt, has found a lifeline by rediscovering La Masia. The meteoric emergence of Balde, Araujo, Gavi and Lamine Yamal has been a breath of fresh air for an entity with little room for maneuver in the market and has breathed enthusiasm into a fan base surrendered to the culé feeling exuded by its JASPs.
The youngest players to play a classic
Vicente Martínez
Barcelona
Source: self made
The youngest players to play a classic
Vicente Martínez
Barcelona
Source: self made
The youngest players to play a classic
Vicente Martínez
Barcelona
Source: self made
The youngest players to play a classic
Vicente Martínez
Barcelona
Source: self made
At just 20 years old, Balde is listed high in the pools for a Golden Boy whose last edition was won by his teammate Gavi, a fixture in the core of Barça and the Spanish team at 19 years old. Araujo commands the Barça defense and that of Uruguay. Lamine Yamal, for his part, boasts at 16 years old that he is the youngest scorer in the history of the League and La Roja. If he plays on Saturday, the winger from Mataró will break the record for precocity in a classic that Vicente Martínez has held since 1941, when he defended the Barça jersey at the age of 16 years and 278 days. To them we must add the injured Pedri (20 years old) and Joao Félix (23), who seems to have found the promised land in Barcelona.
As for Real Madrid, the replacement of the generation that won four Champions Leagues in five years has culminated with the arrival of Jude Bellingham. Thirteen games have been enough for the all-rounder born in Stourbridge on June 29, 2003 to turn English into the new lingua franca with which his new team travels around the world. The Beatles’ ‘Hey Jude’ has penetrated the hearts of Madrid fans as quickly as the Décima anthem did in its day thanks to the scoring power and the overwhelming personality of this footballer who has filled the void left by Benzema and has started to carve out his legend at the Bernabéu with numbers that had not been seen since Cristiano’s emergence.
Bellingham, who gave the scare on Tuesday in Braga, is preparing to experience his first classic like Vinicius and Rodrygo did not so long ago, the other two attackers to whom Real Madrid is entrusting their destiny in a season without nine of reference. At 23 and 22 years old, respectively, the man from Fluminense and the man from São Paulo already know what it means to score against Barça. Real Madrid’s ‘7’ has done it three times and ’11’ once. Camavinga (20 years old), Tchouaméni (23) and Valverde (25) have also earned a specific weight in this Real Madrid that decided to bet on young talents to compete with the state clubs and that, with 27.3 years, occupies the eleventh position in terms of the average age in the elevens fielded by the First teams so far in the League. Six places lower than a Barça whose elevens in the first ten days of the championship show an average of 25.6 years. The future is already the present of the classic.
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