5 best El Clasico performances of the 21st century
La Liga’s first El Clasico of the season is almost upon us. Here are the five best El Clasico performances of the 21st century.
On Sunday, Oct. 28 Barcelona and Real Madrid will face off at the Camp Nou. The match is better known as El Clasico, and is one of the biggest games in world soccer.
Some of the best players in the world have graced this fixture and we’ve taken a look back at five of the best performances in this game from the 21st century.
5. Ronaldinho given standing ovation at the Bernabeu
El Clasico is one of the biggest games in the world and like all big games, it comes with a fierce rivalry. No matter how good a player is or has been for either club, there’s very few examples of one player breaking the divide between fans and receiving mutual acceptance.
Brazilian sensation Ronaldinho managed to achieve this while playing for Barcelona in an emphatic 3-0 win back in 2005. His performance was so spectacular it led to the Madridistas giving him a standing ovation at the end of the game.
Ronaldinho is widely regarded as one of the most exciting and talented players to ever play the game, but sometimes it almost feels like he’s forgotten when the biggest names in world soccer are remembered.
This game was just one of the many times that he demonstrated how amazing he was and it wasn’t just because he scored two wonderful goals. He ran the game from start to finish and the Real Madrid players had no idea how to deal with him.
Of course the standout moments of the match were both of Ronaldinho’s sensational goals, which were, strangely enough, almost identical.
In both instances, the Brazilian picked up the ball far out on the left wing and ghosted past the Real Madrid players into the box, before finishing calmly beyond a helpless Iker Casillas.
These sound like relatively simple goals, but it was the sheer quality of Ronaldinho that made them so. The best part was that the amazing Brazilian did it all with a smile on his face — like it was just another day for him and not El Clasico.