El Clasico III will be remembered by many as “one of La Liga’s biggest disgrace on the European platform”. For Real Madrid director Jorge Valdano like for many other football fans, the match was marked by Pepe’s sending off more than by Messi’s tremendous goals which only occurred after Real Madrid were controversially reduced to 10 men.
Others, however, will prefer to see it as THE show which definitely transformed Messi into a legend among gods Maradona and Pele. Meanwhile Madridistas as well as a portion of neutrals will never forget to describe it as a violent movie starring “actors” such as Sergio Busquets, Pedro and Dani Alves.
Watching the video highlights below, this description of El Clasico III is very likely to emerge and remain printed in people’s minds as this group of critics agree with Jose Mourinho’s following post-match comments:
“An image is worth more than a thousand words. Whoever criticizes my words must criticize the images [which can be seen in the video highlights below] and insist that the photos have been edited with photoshop and that the video was staged. That’s not the case. They are real photos and images.”
Diving Exposed: Video Highlights Of Barcelona's Antics Vs Real Madrid
In the media, the action in the press rooms before and after the match perhaps made as much noise as the action on the pitch. This is what happens when controversy takes centre stage; it’s something which Coach Pep Guardiola couldn’t prevent from happening even if he opted to avoid commentating on controversial matters. But expectedly, “master of talks” Jose Mourinho poured out his opinions as the videos below show it.
Jose Mourinho's Post-match Press Conference After El Clasico III
Pep Guardiola Refuses To Respond To Jose Mourinho's Claims
Football fans who are tired of all the controversy that tarnished El Clasico III are desperately hoping to witness an entertaining Barcelona vs Real Madrid show free of ugly scenes at the Camp Nou on May 3, 2011. They might be screaming that “enough is enough” but will their cries be heard?
On Saturday, remarkably, both Barcelona and Real Madrid fell victim to officiating errors as the two teams lost on the same day for the first time since August 2008. Barcelona were stunned by Real Sociedad but controversy surfaced from the Catalans’ defeat—leaving Dani Alves to moan, saying that “it is a shame that Milito's goal was disallowed because it was a legal goal.”
At the Santiago Bernabeu, Real Madrid also lost 3-2 to Real Zaragoza as Jose Mourinho lost 3 out of his last 4 home matches. However, Jorge Valdano pointed out at a crucial decision from the referee as one of the reasons behind their defeat.
“There’s no doubt that Kaka should have been awarded a penalty. The game would have gone 2-2 at that moment and the match would have changed completely. But the referee didn’t see the incident.”
The Camp Nou is an intimidating stadium and the atmosphere during Barcelona vs Real Madrid promises to be tense rather than dull despite the wide belief that the tie is all but decided in favour of the Catalans. El Clasico’s series is set to end with Tuesday night’s 2011 Champions League semi-final match—Barcelona vs Real Madrid. Which team will finish the war having the edge?
