Greatest Rivalries in Football- Barcelona vs Real Madrid

Real Madrid and Barcelona are the mortal enemies, and are currently spending their football lives lumped together in a bed built for a toddler, so it is no wonder that an already fractious rivalry has recently been at its most intense.

The relationship between the two clubs has been legendary along for decades now, but mainly consisted of familiar mudslinging and childish name-calling. And more politics. But over the past four seasons, the competition between the two clubs has increased enormously. To such an extent, in fact, that viewers tune in to Clasicos not for the football, but to see if Puyol and Pepe are going to tear each other to pieces.

2009 saw the return of Florentino Perez as Real Madrid president with some big money to spend to take down a Barcelona side that was at the peak of its powers. Rarely had the two clubs been in such top form at the same time. Just as importantly, perhaps, never before had normally traditional rivals like Valencia been off the pace to such an extent.

Sevilla, Villarreal, Valencia and Real Sociedad have all taken on the mantle of standing between the two punch-swinging pugilists over the past decade. True competition away from Spain’s two big clubs simply does not exist now, leaving the hunting ground in La Liga increasingly restricted.

Of course, Mourinho’s arrival at Madrid was indeed a shocker. When the Portuguese coach took over in 2010, the objective for the manager was for Real Madrid to challenge in every competition the club was in. This included the Copa del Rey, a tournament that the Bernabeu club had not won since 1993, but did so again in 2011, beating Barcelona in the final.

The Clasico rivalry under Mourinho had moved up a long way, with the mischievous manager inspiring his players to try to bring down Barcelona by any means.

There were an awful lot of chances to do this with the two sides thrown together in La Liga, the Copa del Rey, Champions League and Spanish Super Cup in what felt in Spain like 25 Clasicos a season. The constant pairing of the team teams was sheer pleasure for football fans around the world
For the first time perhaps though, the footballers on the field began to feel the animosity between the two sides as much as the supporters. The games became violent, and at times threatened the unity of the Spanish national side.

Xavi and Iker Casillas had quite the job in patching Vicente Del Bosque’s squad back together, much to the annoyance of Mourinho, who wanted to keep his Real Madrid team snarling. Of course, the Spanish sports newspapers living in both club camps egged everything along too. The more the tension between the two teams, was cranked up, the better the sales.

There is even less chance of this rivalry reaching the same level now, with two newcomers to La Liga on the benches of both clubs. While Guardiola and Mourinho were competitors for the same job at the Camp Nou and former colleagues, it is doubtful that Tata Martino and Carlo Ancelotti have ever met.

Although the rivalry between the two teams is still monumental of course, both sides are looking less at each other this season, but to the Bundesliga, where the biggest Champions League threats are likely to lie. But if everything goes badly in foreign lands, then the two teams will surely turn their attentions on each other.

Players to watch out for this season -
: Messi, Neymar, Iniesta, Pique, Alba. (Barcelona)
: Ronaldo, Bale, Isco, Illarramendi, Casillas. (Real Madrid)