It’s that time of year again when the two biggest teams in Spain, and in fact, the two biggest clubs in the entire world, meet for a historic match known as “El Clasico.” There is a good reason why this match is referred to as “The Classic,” as it is in Spanish. In this century at least, if not before, Real Madrid and Barcelona represent two very distinct aspects of Spain and two very different approaches to the game of football. Matches between the two teams have frequently been illustrious contests that have determined the Spanish league titles, national cup tournaments, and occasionally even the Champions League.
- Barcelona 2-3 Real Madrid
Although the outcome may have been what was commonly anticipated, the process used to get there was far from ideal. Barcelona’s team was viewed as being significantly less talented than Real Madrid’s high-flying combination of youth and experience during the post-Messi transfer season. To get to the final, Real needed a goal from Federico Valverde in extra time and a lot of frantic defence after that.
- Real Madrid 2-3 Barcelona
Messi scored his 500th goal for Barcelona in what was likely the final El Clasico featuring both him and Ronaldo, giving his team a brief chance to steal the championship from their opponents. James Rodriguez scored an equalizer after Real captain Sergio Ramos was sent for a dirty foul on Messi in the 77th minute with the score 2-1 in the visitors’ favour. After that goal, Real was still in the lead despite having 10 men on the field, but Barcelona broke late thanks to a fantastic run by Sergi Roberto, and Messi finished it off by turning the ball with pinpoint accuracy into the goal.
- Real Madrid 3-4 Barcelona – La Liga
In this game, Messi scored three goals, Ronaldo converted one of the three penalties that were given out that night, Angel Di Maria ran amok, and Ramos was sent off. The Blaugrana entered the game on the back foot after Tata Martino, their new manager, failed to make an impression. This was a precursor to Barcelona’s Messi-Neymar-Suarez period. In the seventh minute, Andres Iniesta gave the visitors the lead, but Los Blancos soon took the lead thanks to two goals from Karim Benzema. At the very end of the first half, Messi took matters into his own hands and produced an equalizer from virtually nothing, making the score 2-2 at the break.
