It is one of the most anticipated games of the year. ELCLÁSICO is the match that paralyzes the world every season, a force capable of eclipsing everything else. This Sunday, April 21, at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona meet again in LALIGA EA SPORTS, six months after the whites’ 1-2 victory. On this occasion, Real Madrid faces the match with an eight-point advantage over the Catalans and, for the moment, with the goal average in their favour. If Carlo Ancelotti’s men win, the championship title would practically be decided; If, on the other hand, it is Barça who emerges victorious, the disadvantage would be reduced to five points with six games left to play, so the excitement is maximum.
ELCLÁSICO, the force that eclipses everything
Throughout their centuries-old history, Real Madrid fans and Catalans have faced each other 187 times in LALIGA EA SPORTS competitions, with a fairly even balance of 78 White wins, 74 Blaugrana wins and 35 draws.
Vinícius Júnior, Jude Bellingham, Rodrygo Goes, Brahim Díaz… against Robert Lewandowski, Lamine Yamal, Joao Félix or Pedri González, among others. They are some of the players called to be protagonists of ELCLÁSICO next Sunday. A confrontation that always offers vibrant duels, like those played in the 80s and 90s by legendary footballers such as Paco Buyo, Julio Alberto Moreno and Quique Estebaranz.
Buyo in a recent Real Madrid Leyendas match (Cordon Press)
Paco Buyo, who wore the Madrid shirt as goalkeeper for eleven seasons (between 1986 and 1997), recognizes that ELCLÁSICO is “a game that raises passions. It is the game of the year for both Real Madrid and Barcelona, and everyone always wants to give their best“.
“Contrary to what many people think,” says Julio Alberto, Barça defender between 1982 and 1991, “The Madrid and Barça players were very good friends: Gallego, Juanito, Míchel, Miguel Ángel or Benito got along very well with Migueli, Alexanco and, ultimately, with all of us. We have maintained wonderful extra-sporting relationships, but on the field, when you had to confront someone, we put aside the friendship and got into trouble.”
Julio Alberto, in ELCLÁSICO of the 86-87 season with Hugo Sánchez (Cordon Press)
A healthy rivalry that is also remembered by Quique Estebaranz, who played ELCLÁSICO twice as a Barça striker in the 1993/94 season and that highlights the special atmosphere that is experienced in these matches, which they make the world stop for a few hours: “We didn’t need any harangue from the coach, nor any additional motivation because the players themselves were aware of everything that was at stake, even beyond the ultimate goal of winning the league. I remember that that year in particular, 1994, went very well for us. favorable”.
Quique Estebaranz wore the FC Barcelona shirt in the 93/94 season (LALIGA)
“That season,” adds the former Barça player with affection, “we won 5-0 and then in the second leg, at the Bernabéu, we won 0-1 at the last minute… how good Madrid were for us that year! It was very exciting , because that victory against Real Madrid with very few days remaining allowed us to stay engaged and achieve the goal of winning LALIGA EA SPORTS.”
“Romario, Ronald Koeman, Stoichkov…” are some of the Barça footballers that Paco Buyo highlights with admiration, who remembers the two consecutive 5-0: the one against Barça in the 1993/94 season and the one that the whites returned to the culés in the next campaign. “That 5-0 at the Bernabéu on Epiphany Eve was an extraordinary gift for Madrid fans. We played very well and the match served to begin to firmly mark the conquest of the league championship,” adds Buyo.
The fans: the strength of all
Outside of the locker room, without a doubt the collective strength of the fans plays a fundamental role in these types of matches, which reinforce this special bond with their teams. It doesn’t matter their age or where they live; Passion for the sport and love for your club are the true driving force that makes our football great. Also for them this is one of the games of the year and they live it with intensity whether from the stands, from home or from the headquarters of the sports clubs.
This is the case of Ángel Pérez, president of the Peña Blaugrana Foment Martinenc, the second oldest Barcelona club, with 69 years of history (1955). “The match is going to be extraordinary, with a fabulous atmosphere. As are all Madrid-Barça matches, on the other hand. So, we are sure to see a great spectacle and those of us at Barça are confident of getting a good result at the Bernabéu,” he points out. .
The culés fans will experience ELCLÁSICO with maximum emotion (Source: Peña Azulgrana Foment Martinenc)
With equal passion and pride, Gerardo Tocino, president of the Peña The Great Family, founded in 1983, known for its traveling side accompanying its team and which already has nearly 1,500 members. “The advantage we have this time is that we are playing at home,” says Gerardo.
The Madrid fan club La Gran Familia accompanies its team around the world (Source: La Gran Familia)
He of course will be on the field on Sunday. At 65 years old he no longer travels as much, but “at the Bernabéu I never miss one. I can’t conceive my life without Madrid and without La Gran Familia, which are my dream.”
José Pardo, vice president of the Bernabéu, will also be at the Bernabéu supporting his team. Peña Madridista La Comaalthough he admits that “Yamal and Lewandowski are making good plays. But the truth is that Madrid is in a great moment and even more so playing at home,” says Pardo, who dares to predict a 3-0 in favor of the meringues.
Peña La Coma supporters cheering for Real Madrid before a match (Source: Peña La Coma)
“If there is someone who wants to win, it is Barça,” says Ángel Pérez. “Even if Madrid lose, I think they have enough cushion to win LALIGA EA SPORTS. And it will be difficult for them to escape because this season they have only lost one game and they are having a remarkably high championship,” points out the president of Foment Martinenc.
“I just turned 50 years as a member of the club,” says Pérez. “I have seen Barça win on many occasions, but Real Madrid is great and they have also put us in our place more than once,” says Ángel Pérez. And if football proves anything, it is that there are no impossible things; That is why each match is always lived with emotion on the surface.
Whatever happens on Sunday, what seems clear is that the fans will see a great spectacle at the Santiago Bernabéu, with a Madrid that, if it wins, will lead the LALIGA EA SPORTS almost definitively, and a Barça that, if victorious, It will provide maximum excitement for the last six days of the championship.
As Ángel Pérez points out, “it is rare for a 0-0 to happen in ELCLÁSICO.” It has only happened nine times after 256 confrontations throughout history. Because one of the best games in the world is almost always synonymous with goals and a great show. Surely this time it will be no less.
2024-04-19 04:29:43
#experience #passion #football #heartstopping #classic
