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The Spanish football league is, according to reports, the most watched league in the Middle East.
Despite this, arguments rage that it is uncompetitive and will always be won by one of two teams.
Without a doubt, therefore, the one match everyone wants to watch is El Clasico, the match-up between Barcelona and Real Madrid.
It always surprises me the number of people in Bahrain who are aware of these ties when they are happening. From shop attendants to nurses, bankers to admin clerks, everyone seems to know that these two Spanish giants will, in the greatest of Spanish traditions, be locking horns.
One only has to show a vague interest in sport, or to look sporty, to be engaged in conversation asking for your predictions or views on the match. If you happen to be wearing a replica shirt for any of the Spanish teams, your advice is likely to be sought at an even more in-depth level.
The fixture on Saturday evening was not played at a time conducive to many watching, with kick-off scheduled for midnight in Bahrain, meaning only the most ardent of fans would have seen Ronaldo going head to head with the Atomic Flea, namely Lionel Messi – not only on the pitch but also for the Ballon D’Or, an award given to recognise the best player in the world for the calendar year.
Those who did stay up were treated to a classic El Clasico – at least in the modern shape of the game.
Real’s coach, Jose Mourinho, is slowly moulding his side and it is only this season where he can claim to have had a real influence. In contrast to his team of last season, Real did at least try to play football to match Barca, pressing high up the pitch.
Statistics can be used to paint any picture. Real entered the match on the back of 15 successive victories. Barcelona had not lost to Real in their last seven games. Real, playing at home, had allowed the grass at the Bernabeu to grow longer in an attempt to stifle Barca’s intricate passing game.
The match itself started in explosive fashion, with Benzema opening the scoring for the home side with the fastest goal in the history of 216 fixtures between the two sides, benefitting from a sloppy pass by the Barca ’keeper, Victor Valdes, to allow Real to take a 1-0 lead after 23 seconds.
Ironically, the goal allowed Real to equal Barca’s 2010 record for most goals in a calendar year of 113 with one more game to play before the winter break.
With the bitter rivalry between these two sides dating back a century, debates rage between the fans over who should be regarded as the greatest player ever – Puskas, Di Stefano, Cruyff or Zidane. In the modern-era arguments focus on Messi versus Ronaldo, and on the managerial front, Mourinho against Guardiola.
It was after 29 minutes that Messi contributed to the debate, sliding through an inch-perfect pass allowing Alexis Sanchex to equalise against the run of play.
Either side of this goal Ronaldo missed sitters.
Barca secured their 3-1 win with a lucky 47th minute strike from Xavi that required a deflection and post to help it over the line, and a fine diving header from Cesc Fabregas who, with seven goals and five assists in 11 games, is dispelling myths that he is not good enough to play for his boyhood club.
The one blot on Messi’s book appeared just before half time when he should have been sent off. Having already been cautioned for dissent, he then scythed down Alonso. As the referee raced over he appeared to be reaching for his cards, only to have a change of heart when he realised an additional booking would result in the dismissal of the current Player of the Year.
Statistics show that Messi had an 87 per cent success rate with 95 passes compared to 81 per cent of 59 for Ronaldo. Yet, while Messi clearly stole the headlines, it is impossible to judge on one game alone.
In my opinion, Ronaldo is a more rounded player, more regularly getting into better positions for his team-mates and can add a great strike-rate with headers to his repertoire. He has had greater success playing for more teams than Messi has, proving his adaptability to different systems.
However, Messi, in his role for Barcelona, is simply much better at what he does, namely control the game and create opportunities in tighter situations in and around the box. There are also question marks over Ronaldo’s ability to produce his form in the big games. In 12 games against Barcelona (playing for Manchester United and Real Madrid) he has only scored on three occasions. Compare this to Messi’s results against Real where he has scored 13 goals in 16 games. At the moment, for me, that makes Messi the clear winner.
The same argument can be applied to the managers. Pep Guardiola has inherited a system and a team that is credited back to Johan Cruyff with an astonishing eight players in Saturday’s team having been produced by their La Maisa Academy. Undeniably he has allowed this side to develop into one of the greatest in history.
However, Mourinho has a European record unrivalled, having won the National League in Portugal, England and Italy. He has won the European Cup with two different sides, taking the unfancied Porto to the title before reviving Inter Milan’s fortunes to claim a memorable victory that included the ousting of Barcelona in the semi-finals.
His current Real side has been transformed from one that last year tried to bully their way past Barca, to one that tried to play them off the park. This appeared to be working for the first half hour until Barca’s equaliser, while their lucky second seemed to demoralise his troops.
While this may seem contrary to my rationale in selecting the best, I therefore believe that The Special One is just that – the better manager of the two. For me Guardiola will have to reproduce his achievements at other clubs before he can lay claim to being one of the best managers of all time.
