On The Four Possible Clasicos In The Near Future

I don’t plan to post the four dates of these four possible Clasicos because this is basically just a post on my opinions and expectations regarding these meetings between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid C.F., as opposed to my usual formal and statistically-accurate articles. First of all, what is a Clasico? Even if you barely know Spanish, I am sure you will get what the word means because basically, it is “classic”; a classic. It refers to a meeting between two sides whose clashes have been so intense that every one of these meetings have been branded as possible classics. In Spain, particularly in La Liga, it refers to a meeting between the two top clubs of the country, the other one representing the capital and the other one representing Catalonia. It’s more than just football; it’s also about politics, history, economy, and what-not, but I’m not about to delve deep in that angle. I’m here for the football angle.

I admit that I am a Madridista and that there may be some points in this post where my bias will be obvious but I will try to be as rational as possible. As much as I hate Barcelona to the core (and of course, that is natural), I would admit that in theory, they are the best team in the world as of the moment. It’s not because they have talented players or a manager that is obviously well-versed in the Barca way (may it be negative or positive), it’s because basically, the players have grown up together physically, mentally, and emotionally. We all know how important it is to a team, because it’s what precisely makes a team “a team”. They grew up under one supervisor and under one academy and they know each other’s skills like the back of their hands. To me, this is what differentiates Barcelona from Real Madrid, or any other team there is in this planet as of now. The familiarity of the players with each other enables them to make all of these shots and saves and tactics. Real Madrid is a strong team and I believe in their capabilities, make no mistake about that. But getting that infamous reputation for just “buying and buying and buying players” came from a root issue. Real Madrid has really been buying a lot in recent years: Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Karim Benzema, Mesut Ozil, etc. Though the aforementioned have been good buys and are obviously for strategic and strengthening reasons, Florentino Perez can’t just expect this present squad to go out there and kick the butt of a squad who has obviously played with each other longer than the youngsters under his wing.

I’m not saying that Real Madrid cannot beat Barcelona, because that’s precisely what I want to happen, of course. What I’m saying is that if Real Madrid loses to Barcelona again, then this aspect is obviously one of the many reasons for the possible outcome. This Real Madrid squad though, when given a year or two, would be a great team, if not better than the Barcelona squad right now. All they need is time: time to adjust to each other and time to adjust comfortably to Jose Mourinho’s tactics.

Moving on to the actual clasicos, I actually think that even if Real Madrid loses to Barcelona, it won’t be as grave as the 5-0 beating they had last year. This Real Madrid squad has matured and improved vastly ever since that whooping. I can assure everyone of a really interesting match that will bring the best out of each player participating in that pitch, wherever it may be. And I believe that Real Madrid can actually win at least one clasico over Barcelona. Surely, they’ve learned from the mistakes that cost them that 5-0 match.