At the Camp Nou Stadium, Barcelona demolished Real Madrid 5-1 on Sunday, the first El Clasico since 2007 to be played in the absence of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Luis Suarez, Coutinho and Vidal scored for Barcelona, while Marcelo scored for Real Madrid. Suarez secured the man of the match award after scoring his first hat-trick in El Clasico. Ernesto Valverde, Barcelona's head coach, started the game with the same lineup as his last outing against Inter Milan: Ter Stegen in goal, Sergi Roberto, Pique, Lenglet and Jordi Alba as defenders, Busquets, Rakitic and Arthur as midfielders and Rafinha, Coutinho and Suarez in the forward line. Julen Lopetegui, the Real coach who is on the verge of being sacked, started with Thibaut Courtois as goalkeeper, Nacho, Sergio Ramos, Varane and Marcelo as defenders, Casemiro, Toni Kroos and Luka Modric as midfielders and Isco, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema as forwards. In the first half, Barcelona dominated, scoring twice. In the second half, Real Madrid showed their true colours in the first 15 minutes and scored their first and only goal while missing several chances which could have levelled the game. Barcelona refused to bottle up the game and blow their lead. They thus scored three goals in succession for a famous victory for the Catalan club. Barcelona are now on top of La Liga table with 21 points, while Real Madrid are a lowly ninth with only 14 points. It's widely believed in Spain that El Clasico was the last match for Real coach Lopetegui, who could be sacked any day now. Antonio Conte, Arsene Wenger, Santiago Solari and Guti are among the names that might replace him until the end of the season. The absence of the best two players in the world surely affected the game and its value. Ronaldo left Real Madrid at the beginning of the season to play for the Italian giants Juventus. Ronaldo had always contributed in El Clasico matches with goals and assists, participating in more than 20 El Clasico and scoring 17 goals. Messi missed the game due to an elbow injury picked up last week against Sevilla. The Argentinian is the all-time top scorer of El Clasico with 26 goals. Like elsewhere in the world, El Clasico is a must-see game in Egypt. Football fans always watch El Clasico in clubs and cafes but this year it wasn't quite the same. Al-Ahram Weekly asked Barcelona and Real Madrid fans about the game in light of the absence of Ronaldo and Messi. Mark, a 29-year-old Real Madrid fan, said “El Clasico is El Clasico even though there's neither Ronaldo nor Messi. But my passion towards the game will never be like previous years.” Yassin, 28, said he used to watch Real Madrid “only for Cristiano Ronaldo. Now I don't think I'll watch El Clasico. I would prefer to watch Juventus to watch Cristiano Ronaldo instead of watching El Clasico without him.” Barcelona fans all agreed that the El Clasico was not the same without Messi. “For me, I will watch the game and support my club. I am sure Barcelona will win and Suarez will win the man of the match award,” said Mohamed Ashri, 27, who predicted right on both counts. El Clasico is the name given in football to any match between fierce rivals Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. Originally it referred only to those competitions held in the Spanish championship, but today the name has been generalised and tends to include every single match between the two clubs whether in La Liga, the UEFA Champions League or Copa del Rey. Other than the Champions League final, it is considered one of the biggest club football games in the world, and among the most viewed annual sporting event. A fixture known for its intensity, it has featured memorable goals and goal celebrations from both teams, often involving mocking the opposition. The rivalry comes about as Madrid and Barcelona are the two largest cities in Spain, and are sometimes identified with opposing political positions, with Real Madrid viewed as representing Spanish nationalism and Barcelona Catalan nationalism .The rivalry is regarded as one of the biggest in world sport. The two clubs are among the richest and most successful football clubs in the world. In 2014 Forbes ranked Barcelona and Real Madrid the world's two most valuable sports teams. Both clubs have a global fanbase. They are the world's two most followed sports teams on social media. Real Madrid leads the head-to-head results in competitive matches with 95 wins to Barcelona's 92, while Barcelona leads in total matches with 112 wins to Real Madrid's 99.
