One of the biggest rivalries in soccer history has suddenly became one sided.
On Jan. 12, second place Real Madrid faced off against the third place team, Barcelona, in the Super Copa Final , a tournament which includes all divisions of soccer in Spain. The game was played in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and was important for both teams, as trophy would crown the winner the best in Spain. Real Madrid, who were not in good form, played a very strong Barcelona team, but got destroyed 5-2.
Real Madrid, managed by Carlo Ancelotti, started off the LaLiga season poorly, mostly getting ties. The team looked like they didn’t have any chemistry. Currently Real Madrid have slowly been getting back into form in the middle of the LaLiga season. Barcelona, who also didn’t start the season off strong, have bounced back and have been in top form. They have many young talents, and have not slowed down, only losing five games.
Real Madrid’s record this season is 13-4-2 and Barcelona’s record is 12-2-5.
Luis Gene Creel, a Barcelona supporter, said that Barcelona has become the better team after some of the big name players left Madrid.
“After Ronaldo, Benzema, and Bale left, Madrid had a hard time replacing that attack because now they are struggling to score goals. Barcelona have always been dangerous, and they have many young players who now have experience, so that makes Barcelona better for me,” Luis said.
Many people know Cristiano Ronaldo as the greatest soccer player of all time, but they don’t know who helped him get there. Karim Benzema, from France, and Gareth Bale, from Wales, were the other attackers on the pitch when Ronaldo was playing at Real Madrid, and they provided him plenty of chances to score: Benzema assisted Ronaldo 47 times and Bale assisted him 32 times.
Runny Obiero, a Lionel Messi fan, said that he loved to watch this rivalry when Messi and Ronaldo played.
“I think that after Messi and Ronaldo left it has not been the same because the level of competition dropped after they left,” he said.
Lionel Messi, another player known as one of the greatest in the history of soccer, now plays in Miami for Inter Miami FC. He was a key player for Barcelona, scoring 672 goals during his time with the team
D’ari Coddington, a junior from Bermuda, thinks Real Madrid only plays when they feel like it.
“I knew that Barcelona was going to win from the start of there past two games against Madrid because it looks like only some people on Madrid are trying and the others are just walking around the pitch,” he said.
There are many other big rivalries in the world that get competitive like the El Classico like Manchester City and Manchester United, which is called the Manchester Derby. This takes place in The English Premier League.
