David Kappel: Fernando,
thanks for taking your time to chat! Let’s jump straight into El Clasico! You yourself played in one Clasico during your time with Real Madrid. How did it feel to walk on to the pitch in front of a packed stadium in arguably the biggest game in club football?
Fernando Sanz:
Yes, it’s true. I played when Ronaldo Nazario was in Barcelona. But back then it was a bit different. El Clasico was not as global as it is now. It was not the same as today, but it was still a big match. It’s your rival and the stadium is always full. Everyone is excited, everyone is your fan, and to run out in front of this crowd was just an incredible moment. I came through the academy of Real Madrid, more than 15 years in the academy, passing through all youth teams of the club. So yeah, it was an amazing moment.
DK: Like you say, you came through Madrid’s youth ranks, and it’s probably fair to call you a “Madridista”. How big is the rivalry between players from Barca’s academy and longterm Madridistas?
FS:
Yes, I was born and bred in Madrid. The club was my life. I started playing for Los Blancos when I was nine years old. All my life I have stayed around the club. And you know the history of Real Madrid and the history of Barcelona is huge. The amount of titles which both clubs have won is unbelievable. Year by year, they are competing in UEFA Champions League and for every trophy domestically. So yeah, Real Madrid’s biggest rival is Barcelona and Barcelona’s rival is Real. But not just in Spain, in European competition as well. DK: There is always a lot of hype around the game, particularly for the fans, but how much do the players get hyped up ahead of the clash?
FS:
When you put on the shirt of Real Madrid or the shirt of FC Barcelona, the history that shirt carries is huge. We are looking at more than 100 years of history. Many, many big players have worn this shirt. There is a huge pressure when you wear this shirt, even more so when you play in El Clasico. The pressure is huge.
DK: How does it feel to walk through the streets of Madrid after a defeat in El Clasico?
FS: When you lose this type of match, the people are so disappointed, because it’s their game of the year, it’s their bitter rival. And if you lose, all the fans are very sad. But on the other hand, when you win this kind of match, your fans, the people in your city, everyone is very excited. Right now, Real Madrid has the possibility to eliminate Barcelona from the Copa del Rey, the King’s Cup, and after that they can cut the gap to Barcelona in LaLiga. Everyone at Real Madrid is very excited to win these two matches.
DK: Real sit nine points behind Barca in LaLiga. Could an El Clasico win reopen the title race?
FS: It’s difficult, it’s really difficult. But in all the history of Real Madrid you can find a lot of incredible moments because this is a special club. So I would never write them off. For other clubs to make up nine points on Barcelona would be impossible, but for a club like Real Madrid, nothing is impossible.
DK: Los Blancos have lost Cristiano Ronaldo. How much of a miss is he in big games like El Clasico?
FS: He is a big player, a legend of Real Madrid. But Real Madrid is bigger than Cristiano, than Alfredo Di Stefano, than all of the star players who have played for the club. Of course, it happened recently, but Real are always looking into the future and also have an eye on their academy for new stars. I think Real Madrid right now do not think about Cristiano Ronaldo, they are focusing on the players who are still at Madrid. They are playing for the – in my opinion – biggest club in the world and have a group of great players in the team right now.
DK: One of the new upcoming players is Brazilian wonder kid Vinicius Junior. How much does he excite you?
FS: The standing of Vinicius in the club and in the team is big now, because at the beginning he was at Real Madrid B, but Santiago Solari put him in the first team and even in the first XI. There is a lot of pressure on him – he had to perform when the team was doing bad and he has done incredible. But not just him, also Karim Benzema! Cristiano left and Benzema took more responsibility in terms of goals and being involved in the game. Right now, Vinicius and Benzema are the two biggest attacking threats of Real Madrid.
DK: Another player who was expected to shine when Ronaldo left is Gareth Bale. Do you think he receives too much criticism in Spain? He has 101 goals for Los Blancos, three of them in Champions League finals.
FS: I don’t know, I don’t know. Because, what people don’t understand is why he still doesn’t speak any word in Spanish. He has gotten used to the city of Madrid, but I don’t think a lot of adoption to the Spanish culture has happened. When he scored the winner in the last match against Levante with a penalty, he didn’t celebrate. And people are won- dering, why? What has happened to him? I don’t know, but the situation of Gareth Bale at Real Madrid is not the best. DK: Messi is the record scorer in the history of El Clasico, but Barca seem very dependent on him this season. Do other players need to take more
responsibility?
FS: In Barcelona, Lionel Messi is everything. If you saw their last match against Sevilla, he made everything! He scored three goals, he made the pass to create the fourth goal. I think he is one of the best players in the history of football and he is still in a very good shape and he is still very hungry. Yes, Barcelona depend a lot on him, but they also have other big players such as Luis Suarez and Gerard Pique. However, as I have said, Messi is one of the biggest players in the world. DK: What are your predictions for the two Clasicos in Copa and LaLiga? FS: I don’t know, because we are talking about the two biggest clubs in the world. You know the XIs Real Madrid and Barcelona will put on the pitch will be some of the best players of the whole planet. The games are very complicated to predict. In Wednesday’s Clasico in the Copa del Rey, I think that Real can make it to the final, but as I said, you have Messi, Suarez and this type of players, who play incredible offensively and can change the match in just two or three actions. The Clasico in LaLiga, I don’t know, again. Real Madrid have the stadium, they play at home, but these types of players have played hundreds of matches in hostile atmospheres and crowds, so it’s really hard to predict. DK: No problem if you are hesitant to stick your neck on the block, Fernando, and thanks so much for you insights!