The New Age of El Clasico

Like every major national sports rivalry, El Clasico has its peaks and troughs. There are periods when its importance and views of the show rise and fall.

For some reason, the last few years have felt like a cooling off period, at least unlike what we preached throughout the 2010s, one of the FICTRED AND TITLEDEDED years.

It could be the messi-ronaldo show, which took place in El Clasico between 2009 and 2018, the weakness of the meetings during Jose Mourinho’s time in Catalunya, was always there only to support the opponent that was not very disappointing.

A hot Clasico is a throwback to yesteryear

The first clasico of the 2025/26 season, and the first of the Xabi Alonso Era in Madrid, takes place on Sunday. While it produced fewer goals than any of the last four conflicts, on some levels this felt more like the world’s greatest interests of the last ten or so.

SPIDIDY with some great featured comments from Lamine Yamal, there was always something less in this encounter. Things did not cost completely until the last moments of the game, when the red cards were attacked outside Pedri and Andriy Lunin, and when the full-time change between Yamal and Danimetate Dani Carvajal helped spark wide conflicts between the two teams.

What happened should not be beaten out of proportion. There were a lot of words and some unusual action was exchanged, but no punches were thrown and this will just blow faster than the controversy over Vinicius Junior’s response.

However, it was clear that the edge of the clasico is back, with just enough bad blood to beat the desire for the next meeting of the clubs, which will probably be in the Supercopa in January.

Compare that with the first meeting of the 2023/24 season, which also ended in the real WinKay Gundogan, where Barca’s Gundogan called “more frustration, more upset in the limited strike in the strike of this replay.

The pendulum swings firmly back in Barcelona’s Recaction’s Direction for the 2024/55 campaign, led by Hanli Flick’s Winning all four Clasicos. The Copa del Rey final in April, which BARCA won 3-2 in extra time, came close to matching the magnitude and constant sense of jeopardy on show throughout the weekend.

A much needed win for madrid

El Clasico is always important, but league encounters are often more important for the side making the chase. This latest clash has been nothing like anything else, with all the pressure on Real Madrid, despite the two points they hold in the game.

That was not only a reflection of the desperate run by their biggest rivals, but there was also a sense that even the arrival of Alonso did not solve their problems of major repairs.

The Ex-Bayer Leverkusen manager had found his 15-year-old rival as Madrid’s original coach straight into El Clasico, losing only twice. However, those two defeats came by a 4-0 margin to PSG in the Club World Cup, and a 5-2 loss to Atletico Madrid in Laliga.

The new back home against Barcelona in the relegation would have cast a dark shadow, at the beginning of his reign, but this was a more and more complete display, with Lol Blancos a good number of their victories.

Alonso after that, how important is this game, “said Alonso after the dust had settled on the entertainment controversy.

“Not only for three points, but whatever that means, because you deserve it. I’m very happy for the boys. They needed this feeling of winning a big game.”

The first of many Alonso-flick fights?

Another problem with the reduced excitement surrounding El Clasico, certainly since Messi’s departure from Barcelona in 2021, has been the sense that one team tends to perform at a higher level than the other.

Barca’s financial problems left them second to Los Blancos for most of that time, before their finances improved significantly following the appointment of Flick in 2024, helped by the arrival of Yamal.

After the disaster of Carlo Ancolotti’s last season at the Santiago Bernabeu where the Catalans dominated, there was a feeling of competition now, and this in the real Barcelona of Alonso Madrid and Flick.