It wasn’t supposed to be that great, really: with both suffering a loss of form and the depression of being dumped out of the Champions League thanks to the away goals rule, and with no real villain on either side to punctuate the pre-match hype, this Barcelona-Real Madrid superclasico was set up to be the most understated in the famous rivalry’s recent history.
But shame on you if you missed it. Not only will Saturday’s clash go down in history as one of (if not the) greatest games in Real-Barca history, but you could also tack it onto a shortlist of greatest games in sports rivalry history. This 3-3 draw had absolutely everything: fantastic goals, including three consecutive comebacks from the home team, a hat trick from Leo Messi (who surely is the real next Maradona), a red card, a 90th-minute equalizer, and no less than 100 attacks from both sides, according to the Guardian’s Sid Lowe. For 90 minutes, the play literally moved back and forth like a game of ping-pong.
It was also a brave performance from Real Madrid, which played like it had nothing left to lose (Coach Fabio Capello, in fact, didn’t). Ruud Van Nistelrooy scored a brilliant opener after five minutes, using Carles Puyol as a screen to slot past the blind-sighted Victor Valdes. Messi and Van Nistelrooy then traded goals, and Barca looked like taking control until Oleguer’s 45th-minute ejection. In the second half, Barca keeper Valdes kept out wave after wave of Madrid attack, which came courtesy of the excellent creative work of Guti and Robinho (who inexplicably didn’t start, again). Just as Sergio Ramos’ 3rd-minute header looked to have sealed the win for Los Blancos, Messi intercepted Ronaldinho’s pass, skipping by Ramos and then Ivan Helguera to drive in the final leveler. It was perfect, because neither team deserved the win, but oh what a superclasico!