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5 reasons why Barcelona will win El Clasico

By Harry De Cosemo

Barcelona's players celebrate their 24th La Liga title at the end of the Spanish league football match Granada CF vs FC Barcelona at Nuevo Los Carmenes stadium in Granada on May 14, 2016.Barcelona sealed their 24th La Liga title as Luis Suarez took his tally for the season to 59 goals with a hat-trick in a 3-0 win at Granada to hold off Real Madrid's late-season surge. / AFP / CRISTINA QUICLER (Photo credit should read CRISTINA QUICLER/AFP/Getty Images)
Barcelona's players celebrate their 24th La Liga title at the end of the Spanish league football match Granada CF vs FC Barcelona at Nuevo Los Carmenes stadium in Granada on May 14, 2016.Barcelona sealed their 24th La Liga title as Luis Suarez took his tally for the season to 59 goals with a hat-trick in a 3-0 win at Granada to hold off Real Madrid's late-season surge. / AFP / CRISTINA QUICLER (Photo credit should read CRISTINA QUICLER/AFP/Getty Images) /
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Barcelona won a thrilling five-goal thriller against Valencia, winning 3-2 at the Mestalla.
Barcelona won a thrilling five-goal thriller against Valencia, winning 3-2 at the Mestalla. /

There is a reason it is called ‘El Clasico’. When Real Madrid and Barcelona meet, the whole world stops.

Few rivalries are so strong without geography, and while it feels strange to class this game as a derby, it is a clash in almost every sense of the word.

While it is by no means the only match with a political edge, the Clasico is perhaps the purest form of such a meeting. In Spain, there is real bad blood between the two cities, Barcelona and Madrid, thanks to former leader of the country General Franco’s treatment of Catalonia. To this day, some in the region campaign for independence from the rest of the nation, meaning every time these clubs lock horns it is a tasty encounter.

On the pitch, traditionally, the two clubs represent different ideologies. Barcelona have become known for religiously sticking to one style of football, breeding talent after talent from their youth academy, while Real have portrayed what they are, the Royal’s club, by signing the very best players for the highest transfer fees.

The individual rivalry between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo also follows that pattern, with Ronaldo moving to Madrid for a previous world-record $90million and Messi working his way up through the system at the Camp Nou.

As they prepare to face off again on Saturday, it is Real Madrid who go in as favourites, but Barcelona can never be counted out.

Here are five reasons why the Blaugrana will come out victorious this weekend.

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