Madrid And Barcelona Meet In Miami

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

There are historical sports rivalries like that of the Yankees and the Red Sox or the Celtic and the Lakers, but it is difficult for them to come close to the passion aroused by the soccer game that paralyzes the world and divides it into irreconcilable sides. A Barça-Madrid is something different.

That feeling that the planet stops for 90 minutes to follow 22 individuals dressed in shorts will be experienced by Miami this Saturday, when it hosts the second Clásico in history that takes place outside the borders of Spain. The first was in distant 1982, in Venezuela, in which the whites beat Barça by the minimum.

Since then the rivalry between the two clubs has only grown disproportionately, fueled in recent years by the presence of Cristiano Ronaldo in Madrid and Leo Messi at Barça, the two best players of the current era.

The match to be played at the Hard Rock stadium (7:30 pm ET on ESPN Deportes) is part of the International Champions Cup tournament, which each summer brings together top-tier European clubs in the United States to prepare for the new season. Of course, none of the meetings so far has been like Saturday's.

"It's a bit of a strange situation," Barcelona captain Andrés Iniesta admitted to People en Español. "There has never been a game in this context of the beginning of the season, [when] we all have a long way to go and be in our best state."

The reason for the meeting, beyond sporting considerations, is the interest of both clubs to exploit the interest generated by their rivalry, particularly in a priority market such as the United States. Although no figures have been revealed of the income that will be generated, the price of the tickets -which start at this, and that people can enjoy, he added.

In addition to Iniesta, all the other Barcelona stars - Messi, Neymar and Luis Suárez - will be present at the stadium to play if their coach, Ernesto Valverde decides. Of course, with the soap opera of the possible departure of Neymar to the French club Paris Saint-Germain as a background drama.

As for Real, the greatest absence is Cristiano Ronaldo, who, except for a major surprise, will not be in Miami. Among other things because on Monday he is expected to give a statement in a Madrid court in relation to the tax fraud case he faces.

The duel will serve to measure how the great rivals are months after the Whites finished a historic season winning the Spanish League and the Champions, the second consecutive.

"Last year we did not do things well," acknowledged Iniesta. "Madrid beat us in competitions."

We will see if there is a rematch on Saturday.