Riots on the Streets of Barcelona After El Clasico

Barcelona and Real Madrid played without goals today at Camp Nou. This was not an ordinary El Clasico due to political tensions that caused riots and protests on the streets during the game. The political situation in Spain is not good at all, and all that gave this spectacle a political dimension.

During the game, according to some sources, several tenths of thousands of protesters were demonstrating, demanding the right for Catalonia to declare its independence from the Spanish state. But not only that, the protesters clashed with the police, causing chaos in Barcelona.

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The riots also prevented the spectators from leaving Camp Nou after the game, delaying their departure from the stadium for several hours. Eventually, everything settled, and the fans left the building, but the riots spread all over town, with a smaller intensity, on several locations.

As for the game, we saw an interesting event, without goals, but with excellent chances on both sides. Even though Real entered this game as an underdog, Los Blancos played superbly and were a better team on the pitch.

If it weren’t for Ter Stegen, Barca’s goalie, all three points would go to the capital of Spain without a doubt. Real dominated in the first half, and an early part of the second, but couldn’t net. Gareth Bale scored a goal, which was disallowed due to offside of Benjamin Mendy, who assisted the Welsh superstar.

“When you don’t win a game you feel disappointed. I felt Real Madrid deserved more. It’s a very complicated game – it’s difficult to come here, but we took the game to them and caused them problems,” said Sergio Ramos following the match.

His Los Blancos did slow down in the last 15 minutes, giving up the ball to Barcelona’s midfield. Yet, Blaugrana couldn’t do anything upfront, and they just pressured without having a chance to execute.

Messi, Suarez, and Griezmann were guarded solid, and the only one from these three who created some troubles was the Argentinian, but he alone couldn’t do anything. His best chance for scoring a goal was prevented with Sergio Ramos clearing the ball at the goal line when Messi sent it past Courtois.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1sn9ivFy1M

On the other hand, Real’s captain sent a header, which was stopped at the same place by Gerard Pique, and those two attempts were the best during tonight’s 90 minutes.

Barcelona and Real have 36 points each after 17 rounds played and five points more than the third-placed Seville. That difference would be smaller if Sevilla defeated Villarreal this weekend, but instead, the Andalusians lost.

The biggest rival for these two clubs, Atletico Madrid, has 29 points and occupies the fifth place. Many believed in their championship run this year, but Simeone’s guys failed to meet the expectations.

Both Barcelona and Real have tough schedules in the future, including the Champions League challenges in some two months. Real has a super-derby vs. Manchester City, while Barcelona plays against the Italian powerhouse Napoli.

In the meantime, they have domestic obligations. Barcelona has a home event against Alaves, followed by a city derby against Espanyol. That should be something fun to watch.

Real awaits Athletic Bilbao and then meets with Getafe. All these games will be played in the next two weeks.