When they are in great shape, Real Madrid and Barcelona will meet on Sunday at 22:00 at the Santiago Bernabeu for one of the most intriguing Clasico games in recent years. Although the Catalans will no longer take the season championship in Spain and the Blancos on the safe path there, Barça will try to destroy at least a little bit of a bitter rival in its title fight and of course establish its position among the top four. The Clásico, like all Spanish league games, will be broadcast on Channel ONE for HOT subscribers, yes subscribers, Cellcom TV and Partner TV.
The Clasico is one of the games through which the biggest stars have grown over the years. Some of the games between the two have been engraved in the pages of history forever, and there is no better time to go back in time and recall the seven greatest encounters between the teams ever, ones that changed the face of football and made this long-standing rivalry the biggest game in football.
One of the games marked most of all with the bitter rivalry is without a doubt the first Clasico of Alfredo Di Stefano, the greatest Real Madrid player of all time. But before the game we’ll start with a bit of history. The transfer of Di Stefano to Real Madrid was perhaps the most controversial transfer in the history of Spanish football. The Argentine, who grew up on River Plate and moved to Colombian Monarios, was already considered one of the greatest players in the world. Barcelona were very keen on his services and have already reached an agreement with Mionarios on the transfer of the player.
Alfredo Di Stefano with the trophies (Reuters)But then came the affairs of the then owner of Real Madrid, the Santiago Bernabeu. Di Stefano belonged under FIFA rules to River Plate, which was persuaded to transfer him to Barcelona for considerable sums paid by Marty Carto, the president of the Catalans at the time. The Colombian on the occasion of the jubilee celebrations of Real Madrid.
The owner of the Blancos spoke with the player and to his astonishment discovered that Barcelona had already submitted a bid to the player and reached an agreement with him. The Bernabeu approached Munarios with a request that they sell Di Stefano’s player ticket to Madrid, the triple triple along with River Plate. But then the Spanish association torpedoed the move and enacted a law preventing foreign players from entering the league without its approval.
Alfredo Di Stefano (Reuters)After several discussions, the association reached an agreement together with the presidents of the two clubs according to which Di Stefano will play two years at Real Madrid and two years at Barcelona. The controversial decision provoked a great deal of anger among the Catalans and fans, at the end of which Carto also announced his resignation after a lot of pressure was exerted on him. The temporary management that was appointed decided to give up Di Stefano. On the same day, Di Stefano signed for Real Madrid. Two weeks later she voluntarily realized how huge the miss was.
The Argentine made his debut in the big Clasico, breaking Barça to pieces with a resounding quartet and a huge 0: 5 victory. The following season Di Stefano returned with his own feet the championship to Madrid after 20 years. He closed out 10 seasons at Real in which he won eight championships and added five wins at the European Championships and was enacted as a player who changed the face of history in this huge rivalry.
Exactly 20 years after the passing of Di Stefano, who changed the face of history, Johan Cruyff arrived and rewrote history. After making a name for himself in the big Ajax uniform with which he won eight championships and three European Cups, Cruyff left the team from Amsterdam, first to Feyenoord in the media he won championships after quarreling with Ajax management, and after two seasons he decided to leave the team from Rotterdam and receive offers from Barcelona and Real Madrid. The Dutchman was not confused and chose the Catalans when he refused Real’s offer which was then annexed to the dictatorial rule of Francisco Franco.
Cruyff immediately captured the hearts of the Catalans who declared that “I will never play in a team linked to Panko.” In addition, Cruyff showed extraordinary loyalty to the Catalans when he called his son Jordi, a Catalan name for everything. Cruyff’s first Clasico was amazing. He dismantled Real Madrid to pieces as he scored a goal and added three assists, Barcelona won a huge 0: 5 and that season Cruyff led them to a big win in the Spanish Championship, Barcelona’s first since 1960. What a sweet revenge.
Johan Cruyff before Barcelona’s game at the Camp Nou (Reuters)Although Barcelona’s great infatuation with the Dutch began in the era of Johan Cruyff as a player, there is no doubt that she reached her greatness in the era of Cruyff as coach and the great Ronald Koeman who played under him. The team that brought us the Tiki Taka to the world, won four consecutive championships and was simply unstoppable. Barcelona boasted one of the greatest lineups in the history of the game’s history with Ronald Koeman, Romario, Pep Guardiola, Khristov Stoichkov and Michael Laudrup.
That season the Catalans met Real Madrid and just abused them, there is no other way to define it. Another big 0: 5 for the Catalans, when Coman scores one of the goals with an amazing free kick, the mighty Romario completes a crazy hat-trick in one of the biggest performances of a Clasico player and the team ran for the fourth consecutive championship at the expense of the unfortunate rival from Madrid.
Ronald Koeman in a Barcelona uniform (Reuters)A season later, another argument over a player changes the history of the Clásico. Johan Cruyff’s Barcelona visited the Bernabeu Stadium in an attempt to take a huge step towards its fifth consecutive title in La Liga. Laudrup left that season in a controversial move to the Spanish capital, following a confrontation with manager Johan Cruyff. Some of the allegations heard then were that the Dane had left for Real Madrid to take direct revenge on Cruyff, and indeed, that is exactly what happened.
The two teams met for a stormy Clasico. Ivan Zamorano, who was acquired from Sevilla that season, scored a resounding hat-trick in the first half. In the second half, Jose Amvisca and Luis Enrique, who later became Barcelona players and managers, completed the big five and in the same season Real stopped the hegemony of Barcelona and won a huge championship with one of the great revenge seen.
Michael Laudrup in a Real Madrid uniform (Reuters)And in a sharp transition to the 21st century. Real Madrid has built one of the most intriguing teams in the history of world football, the infamous Galacticos team. Among others, you could find the Brazilian Ronaldo, David Beckham, Roberto Carlos and Iker Casillas who built the “dream car”. Opposite that team stood one player, Ronaldinho, who became the only one in the history of the meetings between the teams to receive stormy applause from fans of the opposing team after another amazing performance.
The Brazilian magician got on the grass at the Bernabeu, juggling as only he knows how, completed a formidable double on the way to a crushing 0: 3, and made an entire stadium, full of fans dressed in white, get to his feet and cheer him on for another amazing performance. Undoubtedly unforgettable moments of one of the most exciting players in the history of the game. That season Ronaldinho led Barça to a second consecutive championship and left Florentino Perez’s failed project empty-handed again.
Ronaldinho celebrates at the Bernabeu (Reuters)The Clasico is known as a game that grew the biggest stars, but from this game grew the star that changed the face of history and later became the greatest conqueror of the Clasico ever – Leo Messi by name. The 19-year-old Argentine flea went up to play in front of a Camp Nou full of fans and captured the hearts of all football fans around the world, except those of Madrid, who this time really did not stand up to applaud a one-man show.
The two met for a Clasico that was not meant to be the same as the history books being enacted. The Blancos were in a very bad season and were placed only fourth in the table, while the Catalans were in second place in the league as they both arrived after painful relegations from Europe. Rod van Nistelrooy stunned the Camp Nou with a formidable double that raised Real Madrid to 0-2. Things looked even worse for Barcelona when Oleg Persas suffered a red card and left it with 10 players.
Van Nistelrooy, Puyol and Persas in the famous Clasico (Reuters)But then came Leo Messi. The flea just danced on the pitch, captured a crazy simple duo and brought Barcelona back from the dead on the way to 2-2. Sergio Ramos, the legendary Madrid captain, scored a quarter of an hour before the end and when the game seemed to be on the way to the Blancos’ victory, Leo Messi came again and in extra time scored a wonderful goal and set up a super dramatic 3: 3 with a hat-trick in the history books.
But the irony, oh how the irony celebrates. In the same game Real Madrid came back to life and hugely. Fabio Capello’s team came out of this Clasico stronger than ever and ran for 12 consecutive games without a loss (10 wins and two draws) and finished the regular season with 76 points, just like Barcelona. The championship was determined by an internal battle between the teams, and Real, who won the first Clasico that season at the Bernabeu, won a huge and unexpected championship thanks to a better internal balance.
Leo Messi and Ronaldinho are celebrating (Reuters)One of the games that football fans will never forget is without a doubt the legendary 2: 6 that almost signed – this is the best Barcelona seen in history. The tiki-taka era is back and huge. With Pep Guardiola the Great on the lines and Leo Messi at his peak, the Catalans came in first place in the table with a four-point gap over second-placed Real and knew a win would bring them significantly closer to the championship. But even in the wildest dreams of Barcelona fans they did not dream that this is how it would develop.
It actually started well for the Madrid team when Gonzalo Higuain scored the first and raised them to 0: 1. But the great Thierry Henry and Carles Puyol turned the score around, and even before the half, Leo Messi continued Barça’s momentum and set up a great 1: 3 at the break. In the second half, again Sergio Ramos was the one who gave hope to the Whites when he shrank to 3: 2. But then came the unforgettable blitz of Barcelona, who simply danced on the pitch and with goals Thierry Henry and Messi who completed tremendous doubles and Gerard Pique the brake who also scored, the Catalans humiliated the Madridians with a crazy 2: 6.
Messi celebrates with Henry and Iniesta (Reuters)But this game will be remembered most of all with Xavi, the current coach of the Catalans, who recorded an artist appearance and cooked up no less than four (!) Goals. This is another reminder of how much Pep’s team has been one of the best in the history of the game. That amazing season ended in a dream treble for the Catalans and a team that will no doubt be remembered for generations to come.