Real Madrid and Barcelona "Classico present and future" .. Know its date, UAE time
From Gerard Pique and the French Karim Benzema to Ansu Fati and the Brazilian Vinicius Junior, a generational gap separates the stars of Barcelona and Real Madrid, who meet Sunday (18:15 Emirates time) at the Camp Nou in the Clasico between the present and the future within the tenth stage of the League, what It symbolizes the renaissance that Spanish football began after the era of Argentine Lionel Messi and Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo.
On the one hand, there are Fati, Pedri, Javi, Miguel Gutierrez, Vinicius, Brazilian Rodrigo, Eric Garcia, American Serginho Dest, all under the age of 21. On the other hand, Benzema, Pique, Croatian Luka Modric, German Toni Kroos, Brazilian Marcelo, Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets, Argentine Sergio Aguero, who are over thirty years old.
Ten years separate these two generations of La Liga stars, one of whom enjoyed and participated in the golden age of the two best players in the last fifteen years, Ronaldo and Messi, while the other has a page of history written by himself.
In the first Clasico without Messi and Ronaldo, it will be up to youngsters like Fati, who this week extended his contract with Barcelona until 2027, and Vinicius Junior, who scored an impressive double in the Champions League on Tuesday, to snatch the spotlight.
"We no longer have Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi, we will miss them on Sunday more than ever, but there is always a guarantee that our level of football is very high," said Alfredo Relano, honorary president of the prestigious Madrid newspaper AS.
However, the passing of the torch between the generation of world champions in 2010 with Pique, Busquets and the "Dream Team", the slogan launched by Barcelona for the new wave of young talent, did not come about without the flames subsiding a little, which affected the great value for the classic.
"We are in the midst of a transitional phase. A while ago, we had two amazing players here. Between Barcelona and Real there were (Iker) Casillas, (Carles) Puyol, Sergio Ramos, Xavi, ( Andres) Iniesta, Xabi Alonso... players who won the World Cup with Spain. So yes of course, we've fallen back."
"I remember in one year (2012), in the best squad in FIFA, there were five players from Real, five from Barcelona and (Colombian Radamel) Falcao, who was playing with Atletico Madrid. It was an exciting period for Spain. The prestige of having Messi, Cristiano and many more World champions in one stadium...it won't happen again anytime soon."
Barcelona, mired in financial difficulties, has made a strategic choice to intensify its talent search in its La Masia academy, to try to return to the top both domestically and in Europe.
The Catalan club has become one of the youngest teams in Spain, with the average age of its players being 25.4 years, nearly two years younger than Real Madrid. Five players from the Dutch coach Ronald Koeman's starting lineup are aged 20 or younger: Fati, Javi, Dest, Garcia and Pedri, who has a sore left thigh and is not expected to start on Sunday.
From the side of the "White Castle", the old guard is still one of its most prominent pillars, with the presence of the best midfielders Modric, Kroos and Brazilian Casemiro, in addition to the glowing striker this season, Benzema.
But the Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti, and before him the French Zinedine Zidane, gave the youth key positions in the team. The Italian said he was "surprised" at the start of the season by the quality of Real Madrid's young talent, adding that he spoke "almost every day" with reserve coach Raul Gonzalez.
And the Royal Club enters its match after a broad 5-0 victory over Shakhtar Donetsk of Ukraine in the Champions League on Tuesday, including a double by Vinicius, who scored a wonderful goal with an individual effort in which he showed his skills and high potential, to top the standings of Group D.
As for Barcelona, it won its first continental victory after two opening defeats, with a difficult victory over its Ukrainian guest, Dynamo Kiev, with a single goal, signed by Pique.
Real Madrid (17 points) did not play the previous stage in the league against Athletic Bilbao, after the confrontation was postponed due to the late return of the South American players in their ranks after their participation with their national teams in the qualifiers for the World Cup Qatar 2022, similar to the match Granada and Atletico Madrid IV (17 points). ) seeking to compensate for the loss in the Champions League against Liverpool 3-2 on Tuesday, was his first at home continental in four years, when he receives Real Sociedad leaders (20 points) on Sunday.
Barcelona (15 points) also played a smaller game to postpone its meeting against Seville (17 points) previously for the same reasons, knowing that the latter is hosting Levani on Sunday.
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