Barca, Real legends to reprise their El Clasico rivalry in Mumbai

bombay: With a vainglorious grinning, Fernando Morientes proclaimed, deal on heart: “I’m 25”.

The former Spain striker, often a late intervention for Real Madrid, soaked in the applause to celebrate his 48th birthday in a Mumbai hotel on Saturday. The Morientes who sat at the front of the room had a few more grey hairs and wrinkles compared to the image of him from his playing days that was in the backdrop. As did former Portuguese defender Pepe, Brazil’s 2002 World Cup winner Edmilson and former Argentina forward Javier Saviola sitting beside him.

The quartet were attending a media conference a day ahead of a ‘legends El Clasico derby’, between former players of Real Madrid and Barcelona who had featured in the real deal. The game will take place on Sunday at DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.

They exuded an air of calm ahead of a match that recalled the most important fixture in their playing days. Even as former players, the loyalties and rivalries still stand.

“When you’re a football player, you are always going to remain that way,” said Morientes, a two-time La Liga and three-time Champions League winner with Real, through a translator. “These matches are a little bit different and you get to enjoy a bit more, but that competitiveness will always be there between Barcelona and Real Madrid. You are representing your own team and you are responsible for that.”

On Sunday, they will line-up with the likes of Rivaldo, Luis Figo, Michael Owen, Carles Puyol and many more former players of the two clubs in an exhibition game with some scores still to be settled.

“It’s a different kind of match because it is not a professional game,” said Pepe, the hard-tackling defender who won three Champions League and La Liga titles each with Real Madrid. “We know that Barca has been winning a bit more than Real right now, so we have to correct that (tomorrow).”

Pepe, the enforcer

Now 42, Pepe was playing for Portugal and club football (for Porto) till last year. The member of Portugal’s victorious 2016 European Championship team was a part of some of the more heated El Clasico derbies. Especially at the time when Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola were the head coaches of Real and Barcelona respectively.

“Things heated up when Mourinho and Guardiola were there for both sides,” Pepe said. “Taking aside those fights, people got to watch those matches in a better atmosphere. There were fights between the clubs, between the players, between the trainers, between Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo... But those were incredible years for Spanish football. I saw them from the inside. Those were good matches for fans and players.”

This was a matchup that evoked emotion and drew the attention of fans from across the world. Saviola, who has played for Barcelona and Real Madrid (he will represent Barca in Mumbai) remembers the game being a family affair when he was growing up in Argentina.

“Rivalries have always been important, and even in Argentina we had this big one with River Plate and Boca Juniors,” he recalled. “But people in South America know how important the El Clasico is. When I was a kid, I used to watch it with my family.”

The rivalry between the two teams though perhaps a bit mellow now compared to over a decade earlier, still remains one of the biggest fixtures in world football. It has reached a point where, according to former Barcelona player Edmilson, the El Clasico has become bigger than the Brazil-Argentina derby.

“I’m a bit critical, but I feel players play better when it’s Barca-Real than for their national team,” he said.

Saviola concurred: “In South America also there is big passion. People stop their work to show their colours and watch the match. These are countries with big football traditions. But on the field, there is nothing compared to Barca-Real.”

Another version recalling the Clasico will take place in Mumbai on Sunday, albeit as a friendly.

Unlike the backdrop at the press meet, the team buses have been decorated with updated versions of the players’ pictures. The grey hair and wrinkles are there, but the faces are still very familiar. Faces that bring back memories of thrilling football matches from yesteryear and take one on a nostalgic trip. To when they were 25 and had the footballing world at their feet.

---

---