Post Clásico and What We Learned

As it was expected the clasico was an unbelievable action packed game not for the faint hearted.  What a game this was! I mean the big screen was set somewhere in New York City for a cocktail party to watch this match. Somewhere in Argentina and somewhere in Central America and a lot of places in the Middle East and Asia people were glued to their TVs to watch a soccer match miles and miles away.

Every year we have come to know ‘el clasico’ as the fiercest rivalry in the beautiful game. FC Barcelona and Real Madrid are arguably the best football clubs in the world with their respective stars Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

 Words can’t describe the emotions of these fans as the whistle blows to start the match. Every attempt to score is filled with the screams of Noooo! Or GoaaaL! Because in this match at any given moment there is a defending team and an attacking team with long passes, short passes and counter-attacks. A clasico match gives no room for slowing down and this one was certainly not the exception.

Goalkeepers Ter Stegen and Kaylor Navas had one of their busiest days at work. Their saves from far and close range were decisive! One can say or blame the striker for missing from inside the box, but the goalkeepers cat-like reflexes deserve a lot of credit as well.  I was impressed how Ter Stegen stopped some of Ronaldo’s low rockets! And I was impressed at how Keylor stopped Pique’s and Suarez close range shots!

The hero of the match was Barca’s superstar Lionel Messi as he appeared when his team needed him the most. He scored the first goal to tie Real Madrid 1-1 and scored in stoppage time in a counterattack to win the match 3-2. Undoubtedly they (Barca) needed these three points to keep La Liga title hopes alive and to challenge Real Madrid in the remaining of the season.

What we learned is that the emotions of el clasico will not go away any time soon. And with the help of new media and technology this game day becomes more and more popular every year. The smack talk and the build up are incredible and some partial fans get a ride in the bandwagon as well. When we follow the stars, when we love the game, when we love the teams we only wish that there were more matches like El Clasico.