Europe has been the ideal continent for James David Rodríguez Rubio, and the Colombian did the impossible to return to the old continent after going to Qatar in what was a failed plan at Al-Rayyan. Perhaps he wanted to play in that league to return to being a starter and be a recurring player in a club in order to profile himself to be called up to the Colombian National Team led by Reinaldo Rueda. His plan did work, as he returned to the national team, but it was not as successful as he thought.
He fought relegation in the lower positions. However, the history and sports career of James Rodríguez has been surrounded by success since he debuted with Banfield. Later, he went to Portugal with Porto, then Real Madrid, Monaco, Bayern Munich, Everton and now Olympiacos in Greece. The Colombian was at various times in the ‘White House’, but in his first steps on the European continent he left great sensations.
James Rodríguez has already played the best classics in Argentina and Europe. Playing Real Madrid Barcelona or Real Madrid Atlético de Madrid is, without a doubt, a dream come true for any player, as is playing a Der Klassiker between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. There have been few Colombians who have performed in these historic commitments, but few have been able to go undefeated in each classic in their first year.
After a goalless draw against Panathinaikos playing for Olympiacos, James Rodríguez continues to extend his good statistics in his first classics. The first was in 2009 between Banfield and Lanús in the classic in southern Argentina. The drill, unfortunately, narrowly lost and James came on in the 72nd minute. That was the bad start, but little by little he straightened it out in the different leagues in Europe.
Already in 2010 he had his first adventure in Europe signing with Porto where he had to deal with Sporting de Benfica. In that vibrant match played in November of that year, he managed to add just eight minutes on the field of play in what was a categorical victory for his club by a score of 5-0 thanks to a double by Radamel Falcao García. He also equalized goalless with Sporting Lisbon in the first derby.
He then traveled to France where he signed with AS Monaco. With the Monegasques he also made a sweet debut against Nice, his classic rival in a victory that culminated in a favorable scoreline of 0-3 on the visit. James Rodríguez was one of the figures during that commitment. This game was played in December 2013.
After the World Cup in Brazil, Real Madrid signed him. His goals against Uruguay and being one of the top scorers in the World Cup event caught the attention of a world giant like the merengues. One of his first matches that received him was the Madrid derby against Atlético and they equalized one goal with a goal that marked his sweet history with the annotations in Spain.
But not only did he have the chance to play against Atlético de Madrid. Well, his first classic against FC Barcelona was also in 2014, a match in which they beat the Catalans by a score of 3-1. The victory was not the only thing, as he also gave an assist to Karim Benzema.
In Germany, he was also able to play Der Klassiker between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. James Rodríguez dressed in the Bavarian shirt and in his first classic in November 2017 for the Bundesliga, his team beat Dortmund 1-3 with two assists and played 84 minutes.
Later, he had other steps for Real Madrid, and then changed leagues in the competitive Premier League. With Everton, as soon as he arrived in England, he had to face Liverpool on October 17, 2020 at Goodison Park. James played the 90 minutes in a 2-2 tie and provided an assist for Michael Keane.
Already with Olympiacos, he had his first classic against Panathinaikos. James Rodríguez was the guide and had several attempts to score goals. Although the match was soiled by a childish play that ended in a maximum penalty in favor of Panathinaikos at the end, the rojiblancos with James 86 minutes on the court sealed the tie at one goal.
