ON SUNDAY, INSIDE a freshly built Spotify Camp Nou, José Mourinho will return to a familiar environment as his Real Madrid squad visit Barcelona. It’s a match worthy of multiple headlines where the story deepens when you expand it beyond what’s happening in the current standings of La Liga. I promise to get to that, but first let me explain this rivalry’s significance. El Clásico is more than just a match of contentious enemies. It is a fixture of global notoriety where opposing faces of Spanish football come together to deliver what is usually a thrilling encounter. El Clásico can’t fully be described in statistics. It is not a game of chess where the objective is to kill the King. It is a battle of grit and grace where the beauty of World Cup-level talent — including Spain's Lamine Yamal, France's Kylian Mbappé, England's Jude Bellingham, and Brazil's Raphinha — is secondary to what the match actually means to the players wearing the shirt and the fans who carry the love for their clubs through their veins. Predictions for El Clásico are appreciated but not truly useful. Momentum in this match doesn’t exist. Form is a mirage and in the words of Miguel de Cervantes’ epic classic Don Quixote, "Perhaps to be too practical is madness…" That’s how I feel about El Clásico. It’s Cristiano Ronaldo’s Adonis against Lionel Messi’s atomic ant. It’s Zinedine Zidane, Roberto Carlos, Ronaldo Fenómeno and David Beckham’s Galácticos and the passing brilliance of Masía graduates such as Xavi, Andrés Iniesta, Pep Guardiola and Luis Enrique. It is gold against water. A fixture with no barometer – only pulsating hearts. BACK IN THE summer of 2017, Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium hosted El Clásico as more than 64,000 people attended this historic rivalry between Barcelona and Real Madrid. Granted, it was only a friendly as it was part of the clubs’ summer tours in the U.S., back when the International Champions Cup existed as a preseason tournament. But no matter how you phrase it, El Clásico’s popularity is so powerful that even a friendly captivates the footballing world, especially in the United States – where millions of soccer fans call Barça or Madrid their team. This particular fixture was also momentous because it was the first ever meeting between both sides on U.S. soil as Serena Williams, Drake, Tiger Woods and almost the entirety of the Miami Dolphins franchise witnessed a thrilling 3-2 battle where the Catalan club came out victorious thanks to goals from Lionel Messi, Ivan Rakitić and Gerard Piqué. Cristiano Ronaldo, who had just become a father to twins and also recently finished playing in the now dissolved FIFA Confederations Cup with Portugal, did not feature but regardless, the stadium was packed. A week later that summer, Neymar would leave for PSG, thus concluding the MSN (Messi, Neymar, Suarez) era in Barcelona. Ronaldo left Madrid the following year in 2018. Messi would follow Neymar's path to PSG in 2021 and eventually arrive join Inter Miami in 2021. A lot, therefore, has changed, but one thing remains constant and that’s the power of El Clásico and how this rivalry draws attention like no other. The first time it was ever televised for the Spain-based network RTVE was in 1959 According to reports based on who watched it at home or even in the streets, it reached a million viewers. Now? The numbers around the world estimate between 600 and 650 million of total viewership and last October’s match - where Xabi Alonso’s Madrid won 2-1 against Hansi Flick’s Barcelona -became the most live-watched Clásico in history. Close to 100 million witnessed the action in real time either on television or streaming. So you get the point. El Clásico is a cultural, historic rivalry of gigantic importance where the focal point centers around two clubs who have opposing identities. Barcelona is proudly Catalan where its motto "Més que un Club" (More than a club) combines with an idea of social responsibility and education through a youth academy (La Masía) that elevates brilliance through one identity. But on the other side, Real Madrid, living in the capital and currently serving as the most valuable franchise in world football, is the omnipresent symbol of Spain where in 1920, King Alfonso XIII gave the club the approval of adding "Real" (royal in Spanish) and allowing a crown on its crest. The white kit is about elegance and perfection, whereas Barcelona’s colors came as a result of a collective agreement. I mention the cultural and social differences because it is important to understand that their distaste towards one another goes beyond what happens on the pitch. But don’t get me wrong, the hatred on the pitch is just as ferocious. Back in 2002, the Clásico at the former Camp Nou, Barcelona supporters threw the severed head of a pig at Luís Figo as he walked over to take a corner. The reason? The Portuguese star had moved to Real Madrid from Barcelona two years prior, thus creating a traitor narrative. The hatred was so potent that the best way to demonstrate the pain due to the deception was to throw the head of a dead animal at their formerly beloved star. El Clásico is that powerful. WHEN MOURINHO RETURNS to this fixture after having previously managed Madrid from 2010-2013 and familiar with a hostile Camp Nou, I am expecting fireworks. Barcelona arrives to this match having won all nine matches in La Liga. It has scored 39 league goals and only conceded nine. These are numbers that have not been done in more than 100 years. The club’s 4-2 loss to Paris Saint-Germain last Tuesday in the Champions League will be a reality check for Flick’s team and because of that loss in Paris I think it will aim to come out with a point to prove. Lamine Yamal especially, who scored a brilliant goal against PSG but lost the ball too many times, will want to rectify in front of his own supporters. Real Madrid, meanwhile, has seen a resurgence and has scored 12 goals in the last three victories in all competitions. There is no Vinícius Júnior in this one due to suspension but I think this is a blessing in disguise as the wonderful Yan Diomande — who was fantastic during the World Cup for the Ivory Coast — will play a pivotal role. He has more goals and assists than the Brazilian so far. Kylian Mbappé and Jude Bellingham will, of course lead the way going forward. One thing is for sure. Madrid (six points behind Barcelona) cannot afford to lose this because the gap between both sides on the table is expanding, so the visitors know a loss is absolutely out of the question if there is any hope of catching up. A Real win will also overtake its capital rival Atlético de Madrid, who currently sits in second place. El Clásico returns on Sunday and just like the words of Don Quixote reminded us, don’t be practical when attempting to predict this outcome. Just embrace the spectacle.
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