Hold your breath, El Clasico is back!

Ronaldo and Messi: ready to lead their charges in the do or die battle

The world will be treated to another mouth-watering football dish as Real Madrid and Barcelona, the aristocrats of world football, go full throttle against each other at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in their first encounter of 2011-12 Spanish La Liga tommorrow. With Christiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi spicing up the whole show, who can afford to be left out of this pre-Christmas soccer party? Your guess is as good as mine. But mind you, this game is not for the faint hearted. Every match between these two sides is a titanic battle that will keep you on the edge of your seat for the entire 90 minutes and anything can happen in the process. Don't say that I didn't warn you!  

Dubbed el classico (English: the classic), the football match between Real Madrid and Barcelona is the most followed football match other than the UEFA Champions League Final watched by hundreds of millions of people worldwide. The match also brings to the forefront the biggest rivalry ever witnessed in football history. The two top spanish clubs meet twice a year in the Spanish La liga. The encounter brings together some of the worlds greatest names in football. The el clasico separates men from real men. With a lot of scores to settle by either side, tommorrow's encounter at the 85,454 seat Estadio Santiago Bernabeu will be nothing short of a thriller. Tommorrow's el clasico will be their first in the 2011/12 season. It precedes another scheduled for Barcelona's 99,354 seat Camp Nou on 22nd April 2012.

The el clasico comes with a full package: it has something for everyone. It is a crash of two largest cities in spain and two richest and most successful and influential clubs in the world. It is also a crash of political ideologies namely separatism and nationalism. While Barcelona represents Catalan nationalism, Real Madrid preaches Spanish nationalism. Some politically charged Spaniards even view the el clasico as a re-enactment of the Spanish Civil War of 1936-39. Although both teams suffered during this war, Barcelona suffered the worst and even had their president, Josep Sunyol, executed by General Fransisco Franco's security police. Real Madrid was to a certain extent spared due to its good relationship with Franco at management level.

The el classico also rekindles the great football rivarly between two sides to the apolitical Spaniards, which ensued in the 1950s due to the controversial transfer of Argentine football legend, Alfredo di Stefano. Both sides claimed owning the former River Plate legend and FIFA had to intervene to settle the dispute. FIFA ruled that Barcelona and Real Madrid should share the player in alternate seasons. But when Barcelona president backed down after a few appearances and allowed Real Madrid to keep the player permanently, many Barcelona supporters concluded that he was forced by General Franco to do that. The fact that the Barcelona president was imposed on the club by the Spanish dictator made the arguement hold water to a certain extent. Alfredo di Stephano was Madrid's success story for with him the club won the initial five European Champions Cup competitions. He remains the all time el clasico top goal scorer.

Alfredo di Stefano: el clasico all time top goal scorer

Other rivalries were fuelled by the transfer of Luis Enrique from Real Madrid to Barcelona in 1996 and Luis Figo from Barcelona to Real Madrid in 2000. Figo had a pig's head thrown after him when he first visited the Camp Nou for el clasico as a Real Madrid player after dumping Barcelona where he was vice captain. This el clasico produced no goals but the highlight of the match was the hostile reception, which Barcelona fans gave their former player. Several objects including coins, golf balls and bottles were thrown at Figo by his once favourite fans whenever he was taking throw-ins or corner kicks. But the greatest highlight of the match came when a pig's head was thrown towards Luis Figo by a very irate Barcelona fan. The legendary Portuguese playmaker was about to take a corner kick when the irate supporter threw a pig's head into the pitch toward where he was standing. The event remains one of the most memorable and perhaps the most regrettable in el clasico history.

Figo gets his souvenir at Camp Nou: a pig's head

The el clasico is probably the only football match that has been graced by the a large number of football legends. Some of the world's great players who have taken part in the el clasico include: Alfredo di Stephano (Real Madrid/Argentina), Johan Cruyff (Barcelona/Holland), Diego Maradona (Barcelona/Argentina), Romario (Barcelona/Brazil), Michael Laudrup (Barcelona/Real Madrid/Denmark), Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid/France), Luis Enrique (Real Madrid/Barcelona/Spain), Luis Figo (Barcelona/Real Madrid/Portugal), Ronaldo (Real Madrid/Brazil), Ronaldhino (Barcelona/Brazil), David Beckham (Real Madrid/England), Kaka (Real Madrid/Brazil), Iker Cassillas (Real Madrid/Spain), Raul (Real Madrid/Spain) Lionel Messi (Barcelona/Argentina) and Christiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid and Portugal).

Tommorrow's el classico, which is the 164th in history, definitely has a lot to offer. Dubbed "Ronaldo vs Messi, Mourinho vs Pep, Real Madrid vs Barcelona" , the match promises lots of fireworks. There is a lot at stake other than the three points. Others have even called it Ronaldo vs Messi, Round V. Real Madrid will try to avenge the 5-0 drubbing, which they suffered last year at the Camp Nou. We are yet to see if the Jose Mourinho boys will emulate what Real Madrid did in 1995. After suffering a humuliating 5-0 defeat by Johan Cruyff's dream team led by the legendary Romario at Camp Nou in 1994, Real Madrid hit back the following year and beat Barcelona fair and square with the same margin. Real Madrid was helped by the services of their new catch, the great Danish international, Michael Laudrup, who was pivotal in Barcelona's win the previous year.

Although there has been no major player transfer between the two clubs this year as in the Laudrup affair, I still feel a strange sense of the 1994/95 deja vu as the countdown to tommorrows el clasico continues. This gives me confidence that Real Madrid will produce a master class performance that will settle the battle for football supremacy with Barcelona once and for all. We have Jose Mourinho, Christiano Ronaldo and Iker Casillas, what else do we need? Long live Real Madrid!