El Clasico Prelude: Star Wars - Galaxies Will Collide When Barcelona Lock Horns With Real Madrid

If you’ve already made any plans for Sunday night, November 29, it’s best just to cancel them now. That’s the date when the heaven’s will be parted and the gods will come out and play a game of football. Yes, we are now just a week-and-a-half away from the game to end all games: El Clasico.

Barcelona versus Real Madrid is normally an encounter that leaves almost every football fan in every corner of the world frothing in the mouth in the build up to the game, salivating during the game, and licking their lips after the game… unless the team that they support end up on the wrong end of royal beating. And that is not just a reference to Barca annihilating the Merengues 6-2 at the Santiago Bernabeu last season, but also to the Catalans being mauled 4-1 at the very same venue the previous campaign, 90 minutes after they had to go through the embarrassment of performing the guard of honour and saluting the ‘Men In White’ for being the newly crowned La Liga champions.

How ironic that the 'pasillo' would instigate a revolution at Barcelona, which ofcourse led to their historic treble success, which in turn inspired the Neo-Galactico dynasty.

The 'pasillo' would change both club's destiny 

Some football fanatics – namely those in Glasgow and Milan – will argue that there are bigger, grander, spicier and more tempestuous rivalries in this sport but this term, the biblical battle between Barcelona and Madrid has skyrocketed to a completely different stratosphere of hype, buzz, exhilaration and anticipation. This season’s El Clasico is set to become one of the most eagerly awaited confrontations in quite some time.

But what can we expect when some of the best, the most flamboyant, the most expensive and the most renowned footballers in the world all gather under the lights of one of the most astonishing coliseums in the world?

Will we see Dani Alves in a swashbuckling swordfight with Sergio Ramos? Will the towering Pique and Pepe bang heads? Puyol will certainly be looking forward to that. Perhaps the poetic Andres Iniesta will engage in a tango with the balletic Kaka, or is that Lionel Messi’s job? Surely the Argentine will be preoccupied trying to ‘out-joga bonita’ a certain Cristiano Ronaldo.

The only thing left for ‘El Mesias’ to do to leave fans any more flabbergasted is to walk on water. Or scurry, in his case. ‘CR9’, for once on a football pitch, will have to become the hunter as he looks to play catch up and re-establish himself as the best player on planet Earth. He will have to dance on water to win his fans and critics over again.

X-Man Messi ready to wreak havoc again

Then there are the sharp-shooters, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Karim Benzema. Big Ibra has settled brilliantly into life at the Camp Nou, but for the mercurial Benz, let’s just say things are not going quite as luxuriously as he would have hoped. Who will supply the ammunition to those two? Xavi and Xabi, ofcourse. One of them is widely regarded as one of the best passers of the ball in the game today, the other is Xavi.  

Let’s not forget about the old guards: Raul and Thierry Henry. Two of the most dazzling stars just a few years ago, they have now been forced to take a back seat to a new breed of galactic megastars. But will they show the young‘uns how to get it done? Speaking of young guns, Gonzalo Higuain, Pedro, Sergio Busquets, Esteban Granero will all be eager to steal a slice of thunder. Or could an unlikely hero emerge? Seydou Keita, Lassana Diarra, Raul Albiol, Maxwell, Royston Drenthe… maybe a pig’s head the size of a beach ball?

Can CR9 stage a comeback in more ways than one?

What about Iker Casillas? What heroics will he pull off? Or will he be pulling the ball out of the net a half-dozen times again? His opposite number, Victor Valdes has often been derided for his fumbles, but there are those who believe he is now better than ‘San Iker’. Well, he will have a chance to prove just that.

It’s not just out on the pitch where there will be entertainment. What about Joan Laporta and Florentino Perez up in the VIP box? For one of them, Christmas will come early, as will New Years, Easter and their birthday… while for the other, it could all end in tears.

You will probably be busy admiring Cristiano’s step-overs, Messi’s shuffle, Xavi’s piercing long range missiles, or Kaka’s samba beat, but keep an eye out, too, for the reactions on the faces of the two supremos. They might be worth putting on the front of your homemade holiday greeting cards.

To answer the question, what can we expect in the latest edition of El Clasico? Well, let’s just leave it to Messi, Ronaldo, Xavi, Kaka, Iniesta, Xabi, Ibrahimovic, Benzema, Henry, Raul and a few of their other friends to show us.

KS Leong, Goal.com