Arguably the biggest fixture in club football, El Clasico has rarely failed to keep fans on the edge of their seats.
Cristiano Ronaldo has silenced the Camp Nou, and at the Bernabeu, Lionel Messi has made tens of thousands hang their heads in disbelief.
Emotions always run exceedingly high. Barca turncoat Luis Figo will never be forgiven in Catalonia, but Andres Iniesta and Ronaldinho have had rival fans stand up in ovation.
Not too long ago it was the sparring and pre-match banter between Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho era that defined the hype of such a big fixture
But in this era one needs to sit down and ponder – Is El Clasico really what it used to be?
Ronaldo and Mourinho
To start with, the quality of both teams is not at the same level as it was a few years ago. The Guardiola-Mourinho era was perhaps when the fixture peaked as a match fit for its billing. Guardiola’s juego de posicion taking on Mourinho’s Madrid, arguably the best counter-attacking team in the world, was a sight to behold.
Comparing then and now, the difference in class is obvious. Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure to Juventus further took away a huge chunk of the glamour surrounding El Clasico.
Messi’s famed celebration at the Bernabeu
Also, it does not help that Barcelona have dominated the fixture for a long time now. Apart from the Spanish Super Cup win at the beginning of last season, Madrid have not won a Clasico since April 2016, when they won 2-1 thanks to a late goal by Ronaldo.
Madrid’s last win at home dates back to late 2014, which incidentally was Luis Suarez’s first Clasico. The Uruguayan has since scored six goals at the Santiago Bernabeu alone.
Messi had a three-year dry spell in Clasicos between 2014 and 2017 and Madrid managed to win two games in that period. But the Catalan giants have shown that they can defeat Los Blancos by four goals even without the Argentine. The 4-0 at the Bernabeu in 2015 and the 5-1 at Camp Nou earlier this season serve as evidence.
It has reached a point where the fixture really has turned into a one-sided affair and the Clasico in the second leg of the Copa del Rey earlier this week clearly pointed that out.
Yes, Madrid were completely dominant throughout the game and forced Marc-Andre ter Stegen into some tremendous saves. They had four shots on target, twice as much as Barcelona and yet none of them was meant to hit the inside of the net.
However, Barca played as if they had turned up for a Sunday stroll and were conserving energy for the, in reality, much bigger game in La Liga on Saturday.
Luis Suarez
When Barca scored early in the second half, they sat back and were not troubled enough to shift out of second gear. Madrid finished like a mid-table team, Barcelona played like a mid-table team and the game reeked of mid-table mentality.
This pretty much sums up how we felt about last night's #Clasico. pic.twitter.com/LN7VVdEFR7
— Sport360° (@Sport360) February 28, 2019
It has reached a point where Barcelona’s dominance is in danger of becoming too overwhelming for it to be considered as the best fixture in club football. Wins which read 0-3, 2-3, 0-3 and 0-3, all in enemy territory and in a span of just four years, should be astonishing. But at this point, it’s regarded as normal – it shouldn’t be.
For the sake of the fixture, Madrid need to win on Saturday. Or will it be another case of Barcelona nonchalantly walking away with three points while the world shrugs its shoulders?
