Is El Clásico losing its shine?

The latest chapter in arguably the most iconic fixture in world football takes place this weekend when Real Madrid host Barcelona in El Clásico.

The showdown between two of the biggest football clubs on the planet gets pulses racing like no other whenever this bitter rivalry is renewed, and generates plenty of betting interest too.?

The match is streamed in 185 countries and for operators, there is no better time to roll out the full range of marketing tools when it comes to specific events. This is the game which the footballing world tunes in for and bookmakers need to plan their offers to take advantage.

Matches between the two often prove decisive in the title race and that is the case on Sunday, when victory for Real Madrid will effectively clinch the silverware while a Barcelona win will cut their lead at the summit to five points and set up a tense finish to the season.

But while the game still carries huge importance in Spain, there is a sense that the fixture has lost some of its global appeal recently due to the departures of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Debate over the greatest footballers in the history of the game can never be settled and compelling cases can be made for the likes of Pele, Diego Maradona and Johan Cruyff. But Messi vs Ronaldo was different, and that was because of El Clásico.

Origins of El Clásico

It is important to understand the historical significance of Real Madrid vs Barcelona when discussing its appeal.

For almost a century, this fixture has been about more than just football. The rivalry grew during the 1930s when head of state Francisco Franco banned regional languages such as Catalan and Basque. Barcelona were forced to remove the Catalan flag from their crest while club president Josep Sunyol was executed.

Franco had links to Real Madrid and the club came to represent Spanish nationalism and the power of the capital, while the Catalans of Barcelona grew increasingly bitter towards opponents at the opposite end of the political spectrum.

Transfers fuel the fire

The intensity of the rivalry went up a notch in the 1950s due to the transfer of Alfredo Di Stefano, who was contracted to River Plate in Argentina but playing in Colombia due to a players’ strike.?

Barcelona and Real Madrid both wanted to sign the striker, with the former believing they had agreed a deal with River Plate before Madrid got involved. FIFA - world football’s governing body - had to step in to mediate and it was agreed that Di Stefano should play for Madrid for two seasons before joining Barcelona for two years.

This did not go down well in Barcelona and they eventually sold their half-share in Di Stefano, who went on to become one of the world’s greatest players and enjoyed a pivotal part in Real Madrid’s domination of La Liga and the European Cup in the 1950s and 60s.

There was also anger when Luis Figo made the almost unthinkable switch from Barcelona to Real Madrid in 2000. Figo signed an agreement to join Los Blancos if Florentino Perez won the club’s presidential election, which he duly did.

Figo initially denied the existence of the agreement but Barcelona were faced with having to pay a $30million penalty clause if they wished to prevent the transfer and keep their own player.

The deal went through and Figo became public enemy number one in Barcelona. On his return to the club wearing the white of Real Madrid, Barca fans made their feelings known with banners while the missiles aimed at him from the stands included knives, bottles, coins and - famously - a pig’s head!

Messi vs Ronaldo

The presence of the two best players on the planet in this fixture took El Clásico to new heights for almost a decade.

Both players were at their prime during their time in Spain, where Messi came through Barcelona’s academy while Ronaldo joined Real Madrid from Manchester United in 2009 having just lost the Champions League final to Messi’s men.

Their goalscoring exploits almost defied belief at times, with the record books being continually rewritten. Both players went on to become the top scorer in the history of their respective clubs while the Ballon d’Or for the best player in the world went to one of the iconic duo for 10 successive seasons from 2008 to 2017.

There was no bad blood between the two but the rivalry between Barcelona and Real Madrid remained intense, and seeing Messi and Ronaldo going up against each other made this a must-watch fixture for football fans around the world.

While getting a precise number is difficult, estimates of a global TV audience of around 75 million seem realistic. While that may not be as high as other sporting events such as the Super Bowl or World Cup final, it should be remembered that El Clásico is a domestic league fixture with no trophies at stake.?

It felt like each was out to prove they were the best in the world though - and the football world lapped it up. They were rarely disappointed.

In the 2010-11 season, the two teams met on four occasions in all competitions and of the seven goals scored, Messi and Ronaldo netted five of them.

The fixture has become synonymous with goals, and that is usually good news for punters.?

Incredibly, only one of the last 63 meetings between Barcelona and Real Madrid has ended goalless, and Messi and Ronaldo contributed significantly to that trend.

It wasn’t quite a two-man show, but it felt that way at times.

What now for El Clásico?

All good things must come to an end and this famous fixture lost its star attractions when Ronaldo joined Juventus in the summer of 2018, while Barcelona’s financial issues saw Messi move on to PSG in 2021.

Years of poor transfer business coupled with a drop in income caused by the pandemic left Barca facing a financial crisis. Club president Joan Laporta described the club as “clinically dead” after his election in March 2021 and even removing Messi’s huge salary from the wage bill did not solve their problems.

The club ended the 2021/22 season 13 points behind champions Madrid before ex-player Xavi took over as coach and guided them to the title in his first season in charge, but the club was forced to sell future revenue streams to finance the rebuilding of the squad.

More cost-cutting looks likely this summer and Barcelona may once again be relying on their famous academy to produce the next generation of superstars. Finding the next Messi is a thankless task though.

The immediate future looks brighter for Real Madrid given their crop of talent which includes Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Junior, with Kylian Mbappe widely tipped to move to the Bernabeu from PSG this summer.

Real Madrid’s track record of success in the Champions League has bolstered their revenue streams but a healthy Barcelona may be essential for both sides of the rivalry, given that the Spanish football authorities have struggled to keep up with England’s Premier League in terms of overseas television rights.

While Madrid’s fans would relish the chance to dominate Spanish football once more and rub Barcelona’s noses in the mud, El Clásico - and La Liga in general - needs the competitive rivalry to continue to ensure the fixture remains a global phenomenon.