The eyes of the footballing world will be firmly fixed on the Camp Nou on Saturday, when the biggest club fixture on the planet takes place.
The El Clasico represents so much more than just bitter rivals, and Spain’s two biggest clubs, Barcelona and Real Madrid facing off. It’s about history, politics and footballing philosophies.
On one side is Gerardo Martino’s Catalans, a side full of youth academy players, turned superstars, brought up on the doctrine of tika-taka football.
Opposite them, Madrid’s Galacticos, a team who’ve never been afraid to spend big on the world’s best players to achieve on-field and commercial success.
In recent years, this clash has been billed as Lionel Messi v Cristiano Ronaldo, and while the duo are likely to play huge roles, most of the pre-match talk will centre on two new faces, Neymar and Gareth Bale.
Neymar is the Brazilian posterboy who will carry the weight of a nation at next year’s World Cup on home soil.
He’s started his Barca career brightly, without producing the kind of fireworks that have become standard for the national team. Is this the fixture he finally runs rampant?
Bale is the world’s most expensive footballer ever, quite the tag for a player who’s spent his early days at Madrid injured on the sidelines. He’s on the way back to full fitness, and will find no better stage to convince Madrid fans he’s worth the $142 million that was forked out for him.
Goals, fights, red cards and controversy usually dominate El Clasicos. Sunday is expected to be no different.
WHO DO YOU THINK WILL WIN?
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