`El Clasico' still a game of passion and fury
Classic soccer rivalry takes place in Spain this Saturday, as Real Madrid plays Barca
There are certain fixtures in soccer that get the blood racing, not just for die hard fans of the teams involved, but for neutrals, as well.
Think of AC Milan vs. Internazionale, Boca Jrs. vs. River Plate, Liverpool vs. Manchester United.
None are bigger than Real Madrid vs. Barcelona.
We get this season's first taste of this classic rivalry on Saturday in Barcelona. In fact, it's the first time the teams have met since the COVID-19 crisis hit.
You can make the argument this will be the weakest “El Clasico” in quite some time, with both teams far from the heights they enjoyed three seasons ago, but it's also one of the most intriguing.
Madrid is 3-1-1, while Barca is 2-1-1. But Barca at least made a thumping Champions League debut mid-week, as five different players scored in beating Hungarian club Ferencvaros 5-1.
Contrast that with Madrid, which lost last weekend to Cadiz in La Liga play and followed that up with a home loss in the Champions League to Shakhtar Donetsk, who were missing seven starters (and 10 players overall) to COVID-19 infections and injury.
Two losses like that in a row have the rumours already rumbling about whether it's going to be Raul or Mauricio Pochettino who will replace Zinedine Zidane as manager. The old days of Cristiano Ronaldo vs. Lionel Messi are long gone, but the passion and fury of this match will always be on display on the pitch.
Messi is still a phenom and there are still a litany of Galacticos, including young Brazilian Vincius Jr. for Madrid. If there are two names synonymous with this rivalry that aren't Messi and Ronaldo, they're Gerard Pique and Sergio Ramos, national team centre backs who cannot hide their disdain for the opposite club.
Pique will play, but has been thrust into controversy this week as he agreed to a COVID-driven pay cut which other Barca stars don't want to do and they feel he's made them look bad.
Ramos missed the mid-week Champions League loss and will be a game-time decision for the Saturday clash.
This game could go a long way to telling us if this season will belong to traditional powers, or if we could see a breakaway underdog champion for a change. Always spicy, always watchable, always full blooded, this is must-see TV this weekend.
EPL
While we're on the subject of full blooded, I did warn you last week the Merseyside Derby was going to be an affair, and it was.
Liverpool's otherworldly defender Virgil van Dijk will miss the rest of the season and his career could be compromised because of an insanely reckless challenge that blew up van Dijk's knee.
Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford flew off his line in the first 10 minutes with no regard and did damage that not only brings Liverpool to its knees, but is a massive blow for the Dutch national team.
The English press has kept the story going all week. Everton, which saw Richarlison sent off after another knee-level, studs up lunge that injured Thiago Alcantara and knocked him out of Liverpool's 1-0 Champions League win at Ajax, was lucky to escape the game with a draw, to be honest.
Liverpool scored a last-minute winner that was ruled offside by VAR. I have looked at the image a hundred times and I still don't see an offside.
Bias aside, I would like to see the rule changed so the last part of an attacker's body must be free and clear of the defender to make it offside.
We all want to see goals, and all sports bend the rules to favour offence. There is no advantage for a shred of an attacker's sleeve to potentially be millimetres in front of a defender's boot. It's madness, and in this case, it was arbitrary.
Everton, though, still sits top of the table and takes its undefeated record into Southampton on Sunday.
While they were outplayed last week, they did get a goal from young Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who is absolutely flying and a joy to watch.
The game of the week, though, will more likely see two of the “Big Six” go head to head when Manchester United hosts Chelsea on Saturday.
Chelsea has looked slightly better than United in the league, but is coming off a drab 0-0 draw with Sevilla in the Champions League.
United, meanwhile, looked inspired in beating Paris Saint- Germain in France with a late winner from Marcus Rashford.
SERIE A
A great story is emerging in Italy with the resurgence of AC Milan. They kept their perfect record go
ing last week by beating city rival Inter. They're threatening to pull away from perennial champion Juventus, which is already eight points back and faces Verona this week in the best match on offer.
Talisman Cristiano Ronaldo won't feature this weekend as he's had a second positive test for COVID-19, picked up last week on international duty with Portugal. Ronaldo remains symptom-free and healthy, though, and hopes to face Barca next week in Champions League action.