da lvbet： With familiarity breeds contempt as the old saying goes. Last night’s El Classico proved to be the most ill-tempered, bad-natured tie of the three to date and there are very real concerns that the bad-feeling and outright tribalism conjured up by this gruelling set of fixtures between the two over the past two weeks could have a lasting and destabilising effect on the Spanish national team’s performances on the international scene in the future.
da winzada777： One man with such a concern is Spanish national team coach, Vicente Del Bosque, who prior to last night’s game stated: “I’m worried about the quarrels between my players during these classicos, which I hope don’t find their way into my dressing room. Good relations inside the dressing room are the basis for our future success.”
With last night’s tie proving an advert for everything a supporter hates about the game – pathetic theatrics, countless incidents of diving and players surrounding the referee every time he has to make a decision – it’s fair to say that the game failed to live up to it’s billing. With Barcelona’s substitute goalkeeper Pinto sent off at half-time for a scuffle in the tunnel between the two sets of players, what was previously a tense and spiky affair has now threatened to boil over into something approaching outright turf war.
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The Spanish national side, prior to the all-conquering force of a side that they have at their disposal, has always been a collection of immensely talented players hampered by irreparable divisions within the squad. The myriad of social, political and geographical factors within the country has meant that it has proved nye on impossible at times to unite everyone under one banner, something which Luis Aragones and his successor Del Bsoque have somehow managed to achieve.
Success breeds team spirit better than anything else and after their success at the Euro’s in 2008, Spain have looked a formidable outfit on and off the pitch. Xavi has often spoken about his friendship with Iker Casillas, yet when to comment on Alvaro Arbeloa after their Copa Del Rey final defeat last week, he would only state that they maintain a ‘professional relationship’, hinting at a degree of tension below the surface – of course, tempers flared between the two last night once more.
Looking for a chink in Spain’s armour has proved difficult in the past, but perhaps their biggest weakness is the fact that the large majority of their starting line-up hails from the big two in Spain. Their biggest downfall in the future could prove to be themselves. Of the starting eleven that took to the field for last summer’s World Cup final, only Villarreal’s Joan Capdevilla played for a club other than Barca or Real.
It has become abundantly clear that these ties have taken on a level of personal hostility. A strong will to win is what defines the good from the great, and in Barcelona and Real Madrid we have unquestionably the two greatest sides on the planet, both of which aren’t avert to using the games darker arts to attain an edge over their opponents.
An interesting footnote to the duopoly of the Spanish game will be how Del Bosque manages to salvage any semblance of team unity going into Spain’s next set of fixtures, for the acrimony that these ties have ignited shows no signs of abating any time soon.
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