EXCLUSIVE
By Billy Rice
Sunday night will see Barcelona and Real Madrid lock horns in La Liga for the first time this season, with Jose Mourinho's reigning champions sitting eight points behind their rivals.
Speaking exclusively to Goal.com, former Real Madrid winger Steve McManaman recounted his Clasico experiences, insisting that the fixture represents the 'biggest match in football'.
"When you play at the Camp Nou, certainly from when you play at home, everyone knows it is two factions within Spain – the Catalans against the Madridistas, Cataluna against Spain – their instant dislike for each other, their rivalry, their religion.
"It’s a very strange match; fuelled by a long, long, centuries old divisive aim where, generally they dislike each other so much."
"There’s a lot of rivalry between Liverpool and Manchester United, certainly, and Liverpool and Everton, but I’ve never seen rivalry of this standard because of the nature of the political factions within Spain."
|
