El Clasico: Barcelona V Real Madrid: Footballs Greatest Rivalry Free
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FREE EL CLASICO: BARCELONA V REAL MADRID: FOOTBALLS GREATEST RIVALRY PDF Richard Fitzpatrick | 256 pages | 01 Oct 2012 | Bloomsbury Publishing PLC | 9781408158791 | English | London, United Kingdom El Clásico - Wikipedia The historic rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona needs little introduction. El Clasico, as games between the two clubs have come to be known, is always one of the biggest occasions on the football calendar—a game eagerly anticipated for weeks beforehand before being endlessly dissected in the days and even weeks afterwards. On Saturday, the El Clasico: Barcelona v Real Madrid: Footballs Greatest Rivalry clubs will go head-to-head at the Santiago Bernabeu for the first time this season, a game that could also see Luis Suarez make his debut for Barca. From their first meeting in to the present day, the rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona is deep and lasting. The overall record between the two sides underlines why it is such an enduring clash—it is a very hard-fought one. In competitive meetings between the sides, Real Madrid have won 91 to Barcelona's In those games, Real Madrid lead the scoring towith Barcelona closing the gap in recent times. It should not be forgotten that Barcelona and Real Madrid are not just football El Clasico: Barcelona v Real Madrid: Footballs Greatest Rivalry, they are sports clubs that also incorporate a number of different disciplines. Football is the most prominent of those by some margin, but there is also basketball, handball and even rugby in the mix. Originally supposed to sign for Barcelona, the Argentine star became the centre of a tug-of-war battle between Spain's two biggest clubs, with both sides claiming they had reached a deal to sign the goalscorer. In the end it was decided that Di Stefano would alternate the team he played for each season, although Barcelona ripped up their agreement—allowing Di Stefano to make Madrid his permanent home. Strong rumours remain that General Franco, known to be pro-Madrid, ensured Barcelona were never able to get their man. Di Stefano went on to be a star for Real. Of the limited group of players to have represented both sides, few have done so with such passion as Samuel Eto'o. Signed by Real Madrid when he was just a teenager, the Cameroonian was left distraught by the way he was ultimately treated by the club—loaned out to several teams in Spain and never given the chance to impress for Los Blancos. From that point he seemed to make it his personal mission to punish Real Madrid whenever the two sides met, scoring four times in Clasico meetings between and as he helped the balance of power shift decisively in Barcelona's favour for a while. Perhaps the only non-footballer to be intrinsically linked to both teams, during his time as dictator of Spain General El Clasico: Barcelona v Real Madrid: Footballs Greatest Rivalry was perceived to be avowedly pro-Madrida leader doing all he could to keep Barcelona down and, by extension, keep Catalonia in check to promote the glory of the capital and his regime. He was accused of allowing Barca players and staff to be intimidated before gamesalthough his approach loosened somewhat as his reign continued. In competitive meetings between the two sides there have been a total of goals. That is an average of over 3. Hans Kamper, better known by the Catalan version of El Clasico: Barcelona v Real Madrid: Footballs Greatest Rivalry name, Joan Gamper, is the man credited with the foundation of Barcelona in Just 22 at the time, Gamper played for the club for many years before taking over as president in The historical rivalry between not only the clubs but the two cities and two regions often makes Clasico meetings occasions when other issues are aired. One of those is the concept of Independencia independence among Barcelona's Catalan supporters, who hope to one day secede from the rest of the Spanish state and form their own nation. This could spell the end of domestic meetings with Real Madrid. However, the possibility of this happening appears many years away at present especially following the recent "No" victory in the Scottish referendum. Julian Palacios and Juan Padros are credited with founding Real Madrid, with the former bringing a group El Clasico: Barcelona v Real Madrid: Footballs Greatest Rivalry men together to start a football club inand Padros presiding over the club's first board when one was formally agreed upon in The Frenchman has scored in at least one Clasico match in each of the last three seasons—all of them coming at the Santiago Bernabeu. Barcelona's defenders might be giving Benzema some special attention this weekend. If he does, he will become the second Luis Suarez to play in El Clasico—the great Spaniard Luis Suarez Miramontes played for Barcelona between andscoring six goals in Clasico meetings. No player knows the Clasico better than Manuel Sanchis—who made 43 appearances in the game during his time at Real Madrid. There have been just six goalless draws involving these two teams in history. That's what can happen when some of the finest attacking talent in the world is on display. Unsurprisingly, Clasico stars are often recognised with the award. Since its inception ina Real Madrid player has won the trophy on seven occasions Alfredo Di Stefano winning it twice. Barcelona, thanks to Lionel Messi, can trump that—winning it 10 times among seven different players to make them the most successful club in the award's history. A pig's head was infamously thrown onto the pitch when Luis Figo, a Barcelona hero in his time at the club, returned to the Nou Camp as a Real Madrid player in When the Portuguese winger went over to take a corner he was bombarded by missiles sent down from the crowd—with the pig's El Clasico: Barcelona v Real Madrid: Footballs Greatest Rivalry the most surprising and shocking of all. It was a moment destined to be remembered, even if Figo handled the whole situation with remarkable equanimity. In came the biggest result in Clasico history, as Real Madrid beat Barca in the second leg of a Spanish Cup El Clasico: Barcelona v Real Madrid: Footballs Greatest Rivalry. Barcelona had won the first leg at homeso they went out on aggregate. The game was clouded in controversy, however, with some reports stating that General Franco's director of state security had visited the Barcelona dressing room before the match to deliver a chilling warning about what needed to transpire. Eventually, the result would be officially wiped from the slate by FIFA—although Madrid fans still delight in needling their rivals about the result. There have been few better individual performances in the Clasico than Ronaldinho 's inas he travelled to the Santiago Bernabeu and ripped a shell-shocked Real Madrid team apart. Barcelona players have earned standing ovations from Real Madrid fans in the Santiago Bernabeu on two occasions. Proof, perhaps, that this rivalry does not always prevent each side from recognising the other's brilliance. In total, 33 players have represented both Real Madrid and Barcelona, with Javier Saviola—who moved to El Clasico: Barcelona v Real Madrid: Footballs Greatest Rivalry Santiago Bernabeu in —being the most recent of them. Some switches have been more controversial than others; Luis Figo, Luis Enrique and Michael Laudrup are among the more notable double agents. Both clubs have a section of supporters referred to as "Ultras"—fans more outwardly passionate about their club than others. Villarato was the name given to the idea that Barcelona received preferential treatment from referees in Spain during their extraordinary run of success. The name came from that of the one-time president of the Spanish Football Federation Angel Maria Villar, who was perceived to favour Barcelona, despite spending his entire playing career at Athletic Bilbao. The brilliant Spanish midfielder will become the all-time record appearance maker in Clasicos if he features in just four more over the remainder of his career. Yogurines, quite simply, means youth teams. Both clubs are proud of the youth systems they have in place, although in recent times Barcelona have done a better job of seeing those players reach the first team. That will likely be on display on Saturday night. He is perhaps most famously remembered for a save he made in the Spanish Cup final, a sprawling effort that denied Barca's Josep Escola that enabled man Madrid to win the first final meeting between the two sides. The Ricardo Zamora trophy is now awarded to the best goalkeeper in La Liga each season. Unsurprisingly, Clasico goalkeepers tend to dominate; Barcelona 'keepers have won the award 19 teams, with a Real shot-stopper taking it home on 16 occasions. Barcelona vs. El Clásico: History of Rivalry between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid CF Certified BuyerChennai. Certified BuyerLucknow. Explore Plus. Enter pincode. Fitzpatrick Richard. Barcelona and Real Madrid: two of the most powerful and popular clubs in world football, and one of the world's most bitter sporting rivalries. Going far beyond the boundaries of just sport alone, thisis a rivalry at the heart of Spanish life, taking in politics and culture and splitting a country in two. El Clasico gets to the heart of that rivalry, investigating the intrigue, the larger-than-life characters, the key flashpoints and their consequences. From civil war bloodshed to 40 years of fascism and links with General Franco, the clubs' shared history is the stuff of a Robert Harris novel and includes: murdered presidents from both clubs, player kidnappings, acts of hooliganism - and that's before you start thinking of the volatile football matches themselves.