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Clash of the Titans: Madrid vs Barca

The investigation into the Neymar transfer and the resignation of Barca president Sandro Rosell have led to renewed friction between Spain's biggest rivals.
It had all been eerily calm. The war of words between Barcelona and Real Madrid in recent seasons had given way to respect and diplomacy following the arrival of Gerardo Martino and Carlo Ancelotti in the summer. Within the space of a few days, however, the Clasico feud has been well and truly reignited.

It all stems from one player: Neymar. Madrid wanted the Brazilian, but Barca bought him. And in recent weeks, the 21-year-old's signing from Santos has been investigated in a Spanish High Court following a complaint from a Barca socio, Jordi Cases, which ultimately led to the resignation of the Catalans' president Sandro Rosell last Thursday.

National (and Madrid-based) newspaper El Mundo published information leaked from the case and dedicated three front-page stories to the investigation in December and January, while whispers in Barcelona claimed the capital club may even have been involved in a so-called 'witch-hunt' for Rosell.

Catalan journalist Xavier Bosch claimed on RAC1 that Madrid president Florentino Perez had phoned former Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar to somehow ensure the lawsuit reached court. "That's what an important judicial figure in Barcelona is saying," Bosch told listeners. His claim was strenously denied by Real Madrid.

Moments later, Barca vice-president Carles Villarrubi spoke on the same station and, although he declined to go along with Bosch's theory, he didn't deny it either. "I think that Barcelona's institutional vice-president cannot respond to that on air," he said. "Everthing has already been answered," he added. "I think the atmosphere in the Neymar case goes beyond what is strictly judicial. Full stop."

Madrid, meanwhile, reacted furiously to the accusations and called for Bosch to rectify in a no-nonsense statement on their website, in which they also threatened legal action. "It is a flatly false assertion that absurdly aims to involve the president of Real Madrid with the judicial process initiated following the complaint filed by a member of FC Barcelona against president Sandro Rosell," the statement read, adding: "Real Madrid's president demands that the author of such misrepresentations rectify those claims in the same means of communication, clearly and immediately. If this correction does not occur, the president of Real Madrid will file a lawsuit against the journalist in defence of the right to honour, privacy and self-image."

Bosch has since stayed silent, but before the journalist spoke, Barca president Josep Maria Bartomeu upset the Catalans' fierce foes when he addressed the media on Monday. "I don't think there's anybody behind Cases," he said. "But I do think somebody in Madrid got hold of him and made him fly very high."

Both of Madrid's sports papers responded on Tuesday by accusing Barcelona of an obsession with the capital club: Madriditis. The country's biggest seller, Marca, led with the inflammatory word on their front page, while AS (another Madrid-supporting paper), went a step further on their cover: "Incurable Madriditis!"

Speaking on Tuesday, Bartomeu then said: "I don't have Madriditis. I have always respected them. What I have is Barcelonismo - I love this club." And later in the day, Martino was asked about the front-page stories. "I read it," he told reporters in a press conference ahead of Barca's Copa del Rey clash against Levante. "But I don't know what Madriditis means..."

Then, on Wednesday, Catalan daily Sport hit back on their front page as they compared the Catalans' trophy haul over the last decade with Madrid's silverware collection in the same period, with the Blaugrana ahead 21-6 in major titles. "Not Madriditis..." their headline screamed. "Barcelonitis!"

Barca currently lead La Liga on goal difference from Atletico, but Madrid are just a point further back, while the two rivals remain on course for a meeting in the Copa del Rey final and could also face each other in the latter stages of the Champions League. As the season hots up, the media are also playing their part to defend the interests of their respective teams - as always - and to ensure the rivalry remains as spicy as ever. After the Clasico calm, came the storm. Back to normal, then...




Return of Messi

All eyes were on Lionel Messi. Had he really lost his passion for football? Barcelona's former assistant coach Angel Cappa had said so earlier this week following the Argentine's patchy performance in the 3-2 defeat to Valencia last weekend. But on a wet and windy night in Seville, Messi proved his enthusiasm for the game remains very much intact.

Things didn't start well. Messi dropped deep into midfield to look for the ball as Barcelona enjoyed the early possession but looked unlikley to do much with it.

And then Sevilla scored. Barca's defending was all at sea and, although Alberto Moreno's strike took a fortunate deflection to beat Victor Valdes, Ivan Rakitic had been allowed time and space to race into the area. Things then almost got worse for the visitors as Sevilla struck the post before Unai Emery's men wasted a wonderful opportunity on the counterattack, with Rakitic firing wide. After half an hour, Barca could have been three behind.

Meanwhile, Messi remained a peripheral figure. That soon changed, however, as he curled a delightful free kick into the path of Alexis Sanchez for the Chilean to head home - albeit from an offside position - to level the scores. Moments can change games and that looked like a significant one: afterwards, Sevilla were never quite the same, while Barca - and Messi - grew in stature.

Singing in the rain | Messi and Pedro celebrate on Sunday

Minutes later, the Argentine teed himself up on the edge of the box and struck a sweet left-footed drive into the corner to make it 2-1 at the interval. Barca had barely been in it, but were somehow in front.

On the sidelines, Emery was furious. The Sevilla coach had seen a repetition of Barca's first goal and told the assistant in no uncertain terms what he thought of the officiating.

But to no avail. Emery was probably fearing the worst when he heard Cappa tell Catalan radio this week that Messi had lost his passion for the game. And 11 minutes into the second half, those fears were confirmed as the Argentine arched another sublime strike in off the post to make it 3-1. Two shots, two goals, an assist and a penalty appeal mistakenly turned down later on. It hardly looked like Messi had lost his passion at all.

"I would never risk speaking ill of Messi," Gerardo Martino said afterwards. "Unconsciously, people who talk about him are in fact playing with his pride, and if you touch the pride of the best player in the world... the rival pays for that, and that's what happened today."