6 unforgettable 'El Clasico' moments of this decade

The build up to the El Clasico has begun, and it is only fair for us to look back at some of the most unforgettable moments of this great rivalry between Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Right from the 6-2 demolition to Luis Figo’s pig head incident, we look at almost all the famous moments in this post.

The Lionel Messi Hatrick of 2007

The 2006 – 2007 season of the La Liga was fierce. The then Real Madrid coach, Fabio Capello, saw his side leading 3-2 and the game went into stoppage time. Ruud van Nistelrooy had just scored a brace and Messi poached in on two easy goals.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=EHJOmrqeSyA

The third one had to come and it came at the perfect time. Ronaldinho sent in a great pass to Messi, who flew past three defenders and scored. He is the only man to have an El-Clasico hatrick in this decade.

The 2-6 demolition of the Galacticos v 2.0 2009

Real Madrid has just spent lavishly on star players like Alonso, Ronaldo and Kaka. Juande Ramos’ Real Madrid were on a 18 week undefeated streak. Still, the odds were favoring Barcelona. Not even the Catalan side would have imagined a drubbing of this magnitude.

At half time, the score line was 3-2, favoring Barca with Real Madrid in a strong position, having scored a goal just before stoppage time.

But, the relentless Barcelona attacking line came back and tore the Madrid defense into pieces. They went on to win six titles that year and this game was just the perfect cherry on top.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=pKfhJ9JpkTY

The tension fueled Clasico of 2001

Real Madrid were leading the title race before this game. At half time, Real were leading 2-1 thanks to two goals from Raul.

The game resumed and Rivaldo, who had scored the first Barcelona goal, scored yet another fantastic goal to level the scores at 2-2. With few minutes before the end of the game, Rivaldo blasted another goal but it was disallowed.

Except the referee ,the entire stadium knew that the goal was legitimate, as no player was interfering with the play. It was heart break for Rivaldo who could have scored the first El Clasico hatrick in years.

The then Barca player Guardiola shouted at the referee after the game, he had to be carried away by his team mates.

P.S : Sorry I couldn’t find the video for this one.

Luis Figo returns to Nou Camp

One famous sign at the Nou Camp read “We hate you so much because we loved you so much” with respect to Figo’s return to the Nou Camp.

This was one of the most bitter transfers of this century. Figo arrived at Barcelona in 1994, and transformed himself into a great leader and a star in the Catalan club. He was even handed the Captain’s armband.

In the year 2000, Florentino Perez was made the president of Real and he wanted to build the strongest team in the world and that apparently included Luis Figo. Figo released a statement saying “I’m not mad enough to do something like that” but circumstances had changed, and Figo moved to Real after a month long saga.

Tabloids claimed, that Figo was the latest casualty of football’s moneygrabbing. Barca fans were angered as their favorite player left to join their bitter rivals.

When Figo returned to the Nou Camp, the atmosphere was juvenile. Blades, flares, whiskey bottles and even a pig’s head was thrown on to the pitch, when Figo came to take a corner-kick. This game showed that the rivalry is not just about football , and it is much more than that.

Madrid’s standing ovation to Ronaldinho

This was by far the best performance by Ronaldinho in his entire life. The man tormented, juggled and made a mockery of the Madrid’s defense as Barca went on to win 3-0.

The Bernabeu was silenced after the third goal, but still a few were applauding the goal. Then the crowd stood up on their feet and applauded the genius of Ronaldinho to which their team succumbed. It was a rare sight to see, and full points to the Madridistas gesture.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=5AHaGIzZ1MA

Barcelona’s guard of honor

This was probably the most humiliating experience that a Barcelona team must have undergone in their history.

In Spain, it is customary that when a team had already won the league title, the opponents have to welcome the champions with a guard of honor, prior to kick off. The 2007-08 season was won by Real Madrid before they played their final game against Barcelona. The Catalans had to stand outside the tunnel and applaud the Real players as they came out.

Xavi and Puyol have described this as the most humiliating moment in their lives. To make matters worse, Real thumped Barcelona 4-1 in that game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=VehRibtWIQA