El Classico

Last week, something huge happened for FC Barca that drove the city into celebration. The match up between Real Madrid is a heated rivalry that has been brewing for many decades, called "El Classico" ("The Classic" for the Spanish challenged) by all Spaniards and Catalans alike. This rivalry started many years ago when the Spanish Dictator, Fransisco Franco, chose Real Madrid as his favorite team and made them the elite Spanish team, basically banishing FC Barca. Since the collapse of the Franco Regime, FCB has made leaps and bounds and is now considered one of the most prestigious teams in the world. Unlike Real Madrid, Barcelona has a home grown mentality, bringing their local players up through an academy and using them to build an unstoppable team. By contrast, Real Madrid contracts the best players from all over the world and will pay ungodly amounts of money to do so. For example, they recently bought Cristiano Ronaldo for $94 million Euros, the most expensive players in history. The rivalry between these two teams is well documented and there is a huge amount of pride at stake whenever these two teams play. This year was an especially close race, with the two teams neck and neck for the top stop, well above any other team. This last week, El Classico was played in Madrid, and the winner was destined to win La Liga, the Spanish League. Barca came out and basically dominated Real Madrid, right in front of their home crowd. It was fantastic. Messi, arguably the best player in the world, started the game with a magnificent goal where he bounced it off his chest and then rocketed a shot into the back of the net. Barca went on to score one more goal and shut out Real Madrid, 2-0. Barca took La Liga and basically embarrased Real Madrid in their own stadium, simply stunning. Go Barca. Barca Barca Barca!!!!