Barcelona boss Luis Enrique has warmed up his table-topping team for Saturday’s visit of Real Madrid by reminding them another thumping Clasico win would be a perfect tribute to Johan Cruyff.
It will be a highly emotional day for the Blaugrana as they pay tribute to iconic former player and manager Cruyff, who died last week aged 68.
A tribute to the Dutchman will be raised when the players emerge from the tunnel with supporters holding aloft coloured cards to create a gigantic mosaic around the Nou Camp, bearing the message “Gracies Johan”, and Barca players will also be wearing a specially designed shirt embroidered with the same words.
More than 50,000 fans visited a memorial at the stadium earlier in the week to pay homage, and there has been a campaign in the local media for supporters to applaud during the 14th minute (the number most closely associated with Cruyff ) of Saturday’s game.
In addition to his brilliance on the pitch and his subsequent success in managing the team to their first European crown in 1992, Cruyff is credited by Barca fans with laying the foundations for the current team’s success by setting down a playing philosophy which has stayed intact to this day.
In the context of Saturday’s fixture, it’s also significant that he contributed to Clasico chronicles by inspiring a 5-0 victory at the Bernabeu in 1974. So it is natural that his death has leant Saturday’s game a special significance for the Catalans, who are eager to hammer home the superiority they displayed in October’s 4-0 rout in the Spanish capital.
Enrique, who joined Barca from Real Madrid in the summer of 1996, when Cruyff left the club, said: “Nothing gets a Barca fan excited more than beating Real Madrid. The thing Cruyff would most want is for us to win the game by playing spectacular football.”
However, he also cautioned his players not to lose their composure, adding: “We have a bomb proof competitive spirit, but too much motivation would be a mistake. It’s something we have to control.”
With Barca paying homage to one legend, it would be appropriate for their current hero to steal the show and Lionel Messi has the chance to do that by reaching the milestone of 499 career goals; 449 for Barca and 50 for Argentina.
Messi reached 499 with a penalty in his country’s 2-0 World Cup qualifying victory over Bolivia in midweek, and Enrique has struggled to put the achievements of his star player into context.
“His figures are from another world,” the Barca boss said. “500 goals…other players wouldn’t reach that if you counted goals in training – including me. I’ve seen in Leo’s face, and the other players, that they are desperate to win this game and give happiness to our supporters.”
Other than French defender Jeremy Mathieu, who could miss the rest of the season with a knee injury, Barca came through the international break unscathed and there are unlikely to be any surprises in the starting XI.
Rather than the after-effects of the long journeys made by his players, Enrique says he is pleased to have a game of this magnitude so soon after their return.
“It comes at a great moment,” he said. “Games like this generate so much energy, I’m not concerned about the players being tired. We will not change the way we play. We need to have the ball for as long as possible to stop Madrid from showing their quality.”
