"Feelings at the start of Clasico "

So it all comes down to this. Will the club we face now submit? Real Madrid’s record breaking run of consequent victories is close to an end…or getting extended. It is that time of the season where we face our arch nemesis; that club from Catalunya because of which we’ve developed a sever aversion to anything in claret and blue, especially the fans. Given the ugliness of the Clasico mini-series last season and the sourness on display in the Super Cup at the start of this season, its quite natural to wonder whether both sets of fans can co-exist. For that purpose, we invited two fans from the opposite camps to pit themselves against one another for a good natured debate.

Representing the Merengue camp is Gaelle (G), an avid Madridista and the head honcho of the website www.madridismo.org which aims at uniting Madrid fans worldwide. One of their prime features is their awesome podcast which features people from all around the world running, or contributing to various unofficial Real Madrid fan websites.

Representing the dark side is Joan Josep Adria (JA), a Cule who currently resides in Barcelona. Joan is a quick witted, sly, globetrotter who wooed girls in the UK and then decided to shift back to Barcelona. His favorite pass time is taking the piss out of Madridistas (Madridista, this is your chance to give it back to him in earnest, in the comments section). Joan loves Josep Guardiola and Joan Laporta and is known to be support the various idiocies of Sandro Rossel and nod to Xavi’s half baked theories about Football & Barcelona DNA.

The debate is quite simple. We had Joan and Gaelle forward each other a set of questions to answer and we also added our own questions to the mix (labelled as RMI). The result is an awesome debate. So read on and hit the comments section to let us know your thoughts. Joan has sportingly agreed to take the piss out of any Madridista hitting the comments section! So don’t wait…

"The masterminds"

Questions from Gaelle (Madridista) to Joan (Cule)

G: All fan bias aside, are you confident going into this Clásico? Why?

JA: Im Confident we wont lose 5-0. In all seriousness i wouldn’t say i am too confident considering we have by no means been on top form so far this season. Our defence doesn’t seem up to the task which is worrying. Pique`s head seems`s out of the game which is disappointing but in a funny old way understandable, after all hips dont lie. Puyol`s been injured so it`ll take him a fair amount of games to back into the rhythm of things, which leaves us very much with a make shift defence. So a not so in form defence against possibly the most in form attack in Europe right now seems a little one sided. Given both teams current form i would take a draw as a good result, no, a great result !

G: What has been Real Madrid’s Achilles tendon when playing Barça? And do you think it still applies?

JA: I`d say its the fact that Madrid doesn’t seem to know what it wants to do at times. If it wants to play Barça head on and risk another 5-0 or simply battle it out and see what happens just like in the Copa Del Rey final. I think your major problem is the fact that Xabi Alonso seems to be the only capable midfielder you have to play the ball out and dictate play, so if he is properly marked you struggle immensely.

G: Do you think Cesc has improved your team? If yes, how?

JA: It`s impossible to improve perfection. Only kidding. Cesc gives us something we lacked, a midfielder who can score goals. Also he is extremely versatile so we haven’t just signed one players in Cesc, we`ve signed 2 or 3.

G: Winning is imperative for Barça (I think). In case of defeat, would you consider the Liga half lost?

JA: I dont think the league is won or lost in December. No doubt it would be a big blow to the side depending on what the final score line was but i very much doubt it would be definitive one.

G: Real Madrid supporters have consistently complained about the referees’ bias during Clásicos. How do you react to that?

JA: Really ! I hadn’t noticed ! Frankly i think its ridiculous. Its a feeble excuse that your manager uses to direct the attention away from his sides losses. He`s used the same formula in pretty much every league he`s managed in.

"Clasico's best feature : Star players looking hot and angry at same time "

Questions from Joan to Gaelle

JA: Would you be disappointed if Mourinho decides to drop the attacking midfielder (Kaka/Ozil) in order to play another work horse like Lass.

G: I trust Mourinho’s line-up choices are what it’s best for the team in a particular game at a particular point in time. So “disappointed” wouldn’t be the adjective, “a little worried” would be more appropriate –forgive me almighty Mou!– because we’d basically be left with two options: either we focus our attacking efforts on the flanks and expose our defense as a result, or we run the risk of “abarcelonar” our game… Now that would be disappointing actually… :-O Oh no! Please! Let us not fall prey to tiki-taka!

JA: Who deserves to start up front ? Benzema or Higuain ? and Why ?

G: It’s really not about who deserves to start over whom –they’re both deserving in that sense, it’s about whose style and characteristics are going to be the most helpful to defeat that particular opponent. Against a team with a style of play like Barça’s, I’d go with Benzema, precisely for his off-the-ball movement. But for all we know, they could also be starting together. Sure, I’m not convinced that will happen come Saturday night, but going back to your previous question, it could be another option –an attack-oriented one.

JA: What would losing both clasico`s mean to you if you won the liga ?

G: Well, it would mean the same thing to me as to everybody: that Barça really really sucked! Not beating Madrid despite a +6-point relative advantage… catch my drift? In any event, it would speak wonders of Madrid, who would have been so consistently good that even after losing twice to the reigning champion they would still be in the position of being crowned. I’m sure we wouldn’t hear the end of it from Barça’s side, but I wouldn’t be bitter nor would I feel the victory is tainted (yeah, I could see where you were going with that question!). I’m not going to lie though: if we won both Clásicos on top of it, victory would be even sweeter!

JA: Would winning the clasico mean the liga is won already for Madrid ?

G: No. Not only would it be much too early to draw this sort of conclusion, it would also be assuming that La Liga comes down to these two teams. Barça is a contender because they are the reigning champs and have been very good these past years, but they’ve failed to stand out from the pack so far this season. Many things can happen until April 22nd. Who knows? By then, the Clásico in Camp Nou might be just that –a Clásico– while a whole other match would decide who would be crowned champion.

JA: Do you think this current Barça side is on top form for this clasico ?

"And this what happens when you approach the END !! " Not much change , right ??

G: I don’t think Barça is in top form at all –the standings speak for themselves– but a Clásico is as much a football game as it is a pshycological battle, with both teams desperate to win and show the other one who Spain’s boss is. It can all come down to the mental in the end. And while I believe Madrid has the advantage on paper, Barça still has the psychological edge for now.

Questions from the RealMadridInfo team to both Joan & Gaelle

RMI: Will any club showcase their dark, unsavory side in this match? (Rugby tackles for Real Madrid, and Diving cum Play Acting for Barcelona) Do you think propaganda from both clubs about its rival has gone some way in tarnishing the image of the other club; if yes, do you think they should still fuel the Morbo or take steps to resolve the situation?

JA: Both sides have equally unsavoury aspects to their game. Then again, what sides dont ? I think that these aspects have been greatly exaggerated by the press which have done the clasico a lot of harm. I mean come on, it`s not like each side solely relies on these unsavoury aspects to win games ! I think steps should be taken to resolve the situation before it gets even more out of hand.

G: In a Clásico, I expect the worse of both teams to surface. I would be really saddened but not the bit surprised if there was a fight or two, and yes, unfortunately I expect Barça to pull off yet another award-winning acting performance: they’ve been rewarded for it so far, why should they stop? You know what freaks me out the most in this Clásico? That Barça plays on Di María’s weakness and get him sent out. I can totally see that happening. Di María is hard-working and brilliant but we’ve seen him make bad decisions this season –see how we are not turning a blind eye to it?– and I wouldn’t be surprised if Barça’s finest actors came up with a nice little skit to laugh at our expense. That being said, I’m open to nice surprises and would be more than happy to be proven wrong.

As for Madrid’s hard tackles, I don’t know. Who do you have in mind? Pepe and Lass? It depends. If they are frustrated because Barça players fool the referee, give in to hard tackle themselves, overpower us, or all of the above, then it’s possible to see Madrid put up a borderline fight sometimes, which could get us in trouble and put us in a position of losing a man and/or facing a penalty. I just hope that whatever is sanctioned on Madrid’s side will not go unpunished on Barça’s.

Regarding rival propoganda; on one hand, I believe it does tarnish the image of both clubs: how do you want to be taken seriously about fairplay and respecting your opponent after that? On the other hand, isn’t Morbo what the fans want? The problem is a.) Fueling the morbo also fuels the rivalry, b.) This type of rivalry in turns fuels itself on the smallest things and c.) Do Barça and Madrid fans really want things to change anyway? Why would you expect the clubs to behave any differently than you do? Because they have to be politically correct? Because the values of the culé/madridismo spirits are tarnished by their behavior? So basically it’s ok for us to act viciously because, as long as the clubs keep things clean, the honor is safe? Gandhi said “be the change you want to see”… well there you go.

RMI: This will probably be a tough question given the fact that so much goes on in a Clasico. However, We would like you to describe your feelings while watching the Clasico; feelings about the match, about your own team, about the rival team and about the rival team’s fans.

JA: Its about a lot of things. Its about feeling proud about your club, about what it stands for, it further vindicates its ideologies. That aside, Its also about getting one over on your most “hated” counterpart ! Who wouldn’t relish doing something like that. To be able to hold a victory over your friends, i say friends because even despite this great hatred i have for Real Madrid i have many great friends on the dark side. To be able to ridicule and taunt them is priceless. The only thing the loser has to look forward to is this all starting over again in the next clasico and hoping, no, praying, that his side wins so he can exert his or her revenge. Thats the great thing about the clasico`s, there is always another one around the corner so that sweet taste of victory or that sour taste of defeat doesn’t last too long.

G: About the match – A Clásico feels like a finale to me. Last year, Barça was clearly in our way so the feeling was justified. This time around and at this stage, it’s more a matter of regaining our self-confidence by defeating Barça fair and square in a major competition. We owe it to ourselves. I believe there’s a mental block that I would love to see unlocked on Saturday.

About my team – I’m much more nervous and excited than for any other game, because the stakes feel higher. It’s like when you’re watching your spouse speak in public and you know he/she’s ready but has stage-fright, or watching your prodidgy child participate in a contest and hope for him/her not to mess up this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: benevolent, tense and powerless all at once. If/when the game clearly goes in our favor, then I will be able to sit back, relax and enjoy the beauty of it, but otherwise I’ll basically be miserable until the final whistle!

About the other team – The issue for me is that several Barça players are on Spain’s NT. When you’re a Real Madrid fan supporting any other NT, you can just “hate their guts” if you want, or –even better– not let them have any sort of influence on you at all. But as a Spain supporter as well, anytime Barça’s Spanish players say or do something insulting/hurtful directed at Real Madrid, I feel betrayed. As Barça players, they do their job, good for them; I focus on my own team. And who knows anyway? Some of them might actually end up playing at Madrid someday! But in the context of the NT, then I’ll admit I keep hard feelings towards them, not for playing for the ” historical archenemy” but because of how I felt they lacked respect. I actually wrote an open letter about that back in September. I wouldn’t be surprised if Culés Spain’s supporters felt the same way towards Real Madrid players, although I’ve never heard Casillas, Ramos and the likes indulge in the same bad mouthing to be honest.

I also feel Barça’s management and some Barça players and fans should refrain from mixing football and politics. Not all Catalans are Culés, not all Culés are Catalans, Barça is not a Cataluña born and raised-only team and, as I said before, several Barça players play for Spain, so politics should be irrelevant.

About the rival team’s fans – Some relatives and good friends of mine are Culés, and I still love them When Barça wins and I see some Culé kids with a huge smile on their face, I’m happy they’re happy. Somebody has to win, it’s the basis of this sport, there’s always a winner and a loser at the end of the competition. I don’t want to be the loser, but I can’t blame the winner for being happy and celebrating the victory, now can I? What I don’t care for though is the bad attitude, the provocation, the insults… it’s a huge shame. But again, can I blame them? I sure can, but if I take a good look around at my own people, my fellow Madridistas, I’m not going to see much respect towards Culés either. We’re all just as bad really!

….That’s all Folks! Anything you disagree with? Do you want a debate with Cules? Hit the comments section, get in your cule buddies on this post and let the war begin!