by Mohamed Haniff
Traditionally anyone who decides to write on matters such as football are taught to cast aside any biases they may have; in favour of a more objective and scientific approach to the game. However the goal of this article is not to provide you with a tactical breakdown of how I think both managers will line up or highlight the key players in this battle; there are several articles online that can give you all of that information, should you decide you absolutely need it. What makes a game like Real Madrid vs Barcelona so special are the emotions which come flooding out during these moments; these games have given me so much joy and pain – though lately it has mostly been pain- that I'd like to share some of these with you.
From the first moment I decided to support Real Madrid I knew I had to hate Barcelona noone ever told me why and to this day I don't know why, but the hate is still there; even if now it is accompanied by grudging respect and a tinge of jealousy. Though as I've said I've hated them for a very long time, the first time I ever saw really saw this hatred between clubs manifested, was the Figo incident at the Camp Nou. I was maybe 12 years old at the time and I had never seen anything like it, my 12 year old self was enraged and fed off of the tension in the stadium that night; in my head the supporters in the crowd that night were animals. As I grew older I understood why the cules hated Figo so much, and the chants of “Figo pesetero” made sense to me; in a way I learned to forgive them. This was however the first time I felt that hatred that I feel for about 4 hours a season; unless there is a special coincidence much like last season's unfortunate clasico marathon.
