• Bartomeu's ordago will limit whether Messi agrees not to leave

Real Madrid and its fans really understood the dimension of the monster they faced on the afternoon of 2-6 at the Bernabéu. The Rosario had been aiming for a long time, leaving incredible goals (Getafe) and even doing a hat trick to whites, but in that classic the edge and voracious hunger of an unstoppable player was seen, a demon of the guardian accordion that Chamartin overturned . That day of May 2009 in the capital there were fights in bars because of the celebrations unleashed by some culé waiter.

The 2-6 left a wound, an atrocious panic, that not even the subsequent string of European Cups healed completely. In fact, such a beating of the greatest rival (if it is the Camp Nou, the better) is what the most ambitious of a generation of Madridistas still lack, who have seen their team win almost as many Champions as Leagues.

From the win that Joan Laporta put above any title came a groggy club and a fans fearful that Barça, with such a footballer, would achieve what seemed impossible: close the white leadership in the European Cups. Messi could win five in a row, why not. Chamartín did not know it but from the disappointment of 2-6 came the team that years later would dominate Europe.

Florentino Pérez would return to the presidency a few weeks later with Cristiano Ronaldo and a handful of powerful signings. Against the Argentine 10, with him as a ribbon and a huge adversary, a project was raised that, after the Mourinhista electroshock, would curdle in the second best stage in the history of Real Madrid. A cycle where the whites and their most transcendent footballer after Di Stéfano would win four Champions of five attempts, a thunderous achievement that beats today at the base of the Barcelona crisis. If Madrid collected glory in Lisbon, Milan, Cardiff and Kiev, Messi and his gang were consumed in Turin, Rome, Anfield and Lisbon.

Three transfer attempts

The balance of forces did not prevent Florentino from looking with desire at the Argentine for a long time. Up to three occasions he probed him, having the family, with his father at the helm, convinced of the benefits of the change. However, the player elegantly rejected the somersault of changing shirts. This interest was then transformed on the field into a wild appetite, unleashed, against the maximum rival.

It seemed, especially at the Bernabéu, in need of vindicating not so much against the Madrid team but against that media Madrid always huge in Catalonia. The famous cave. The alien, of course, because it is difficult to see it (journalists with a Barça shirt at the Camp Nou and others who spend the classics bellowing between sleeve cuts).

Example of Messi's eagerness to shine against the whites: his goal celebration in 2017 showing his shirt at the north end for a long time. A goal that gave Barça victory in that classic but did not help them win the League. The Champions League boom at the hands of Zidane relativized the figure of the Argentine star in the eyes of Real Madrid, who was never stopped being feared at the Bernabéu. Nobody created such a sense of danger in the field, if perhaps Neymar in his first visit with PSG.

His resignation to continue at Barça is being experienced from the Madrid high command with interest and amazement. They remember what was said in Cristiano's goodbye , the comparison being easy. The Portuguese left 100 million euros and after winning three Champions in a row. Messi wants to do it for the brave, free, and after the most embarrassing win in the history of Barcelona. The Portuguese also avoided kissing the shield. The relief of getting out of the way -in the League- at '10' is mixed with a certain empathy with the rival board, trapped in a diabolical situation. "Bartomeu is a good man", repeat his rivals.

And before the logical aftertaste of seeing the maximum rival burning, financial variants also arise. They know in Madrid that without Messi the classics will be worth less , as well as the entire global product of Spanish football. Javier Tebas fears depreciation. The coronavirus ruined a mini tour of the greats in the United States this summer, to inaugurate a couple of stadiums. For two classics they were going to charge 12 million euros each. The Madrid-Barça will continue to be the most important show in the world (above the Super Bowl), but the rivalry without Messi and without Cristiano will decrease degrees. Mbappé against Griezmann will be fine, without being the same. Not much less.

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