Real looks to crash unbeaten Barça’s party

MADRID – Agence France-Presse

Real Madrid can transform its own season by beating Liverpool in this month’s Champions League final, and on May 6 it can dent Barcelona’s by becoming the first team to defeat the Catalans in La Liga.

This “clasico” at Camp Nou will have minimal impact on the league, with Barça already crowned champion and Real’s passing interest in pipping Atletico to second place diminished by its ambitions in Europe.

But there is still much at stake in what Madrid’s daily newspaper Marca has billed “the clasico of honor”. It could even be argued this match will go some way to defining the seasons of these two teams.

Barça, in particular, has been careful in celebrating its domestic double, the players aware of the disappointment that lingers from their Champions League crash in the quarterfinals.

Even as they ordered pizza and slurped beer from the top of their open-top bus down Las Ramblas this week, it was noticeable how many interviews still referenced the disappointment in Rome.

“The elimination in the Champions League, it hurt us because it was unexpected,” said Barça coach Ernesto Valverde. “But it is very difficult to do what we have done and now what are we going to do? We keep trying.”

To soften the blow, Barça’s best response was to win the Copa del Rey and La Liga and finish unbeaten in the league for the first time, while hoping Real does not go all the way in the Champions League. The latter two are still to be decided.

Real’s march towards a 13th European triumph has certainly weighed heavily on Barcelona, whose sense of absence has been heightened by the progress of its rivals.

It’s amazing to be in a Champions League final for the third time in a row and have the chance to win it for the fourth time in the last five years,” Real midfielder Toni Kroos said on May 1.

“It’s hard for me to find words to describe that. When it comes to the Champions League, we have extra motivation.”

Barça is looking to avoid defeat this weekend, and in its last three league games against Villarreal, Levante and Real Sociedad to seal a historic season.

But if Real snatches a victory at the Camp Nou and also sees off Liverpool, perhaps the balance is tipped in its favor.

It will certainly be the last “clasico” for Andres Iniesta as a player while Gareth Bale may also wave goodbye to this fixture, with the Welshman expected to consider his future at Real in the summer.

The suggestion is both teams could give the departing Iniesta, Barça’s captain, a guard of honor, even if Real refuses to do so for Barcelona’s La Liga triumph.

Bale was again a substitute against Bayern Munich on May 1, meaning he has now started only one of Real’s six Champions League knock-out games.

Zidane has been playing Bale, and resting key players, in La Liga matches but he is not likely to field a weakened team this weekend.
Atletico Madrid, which is five points ahead of Real, hosts struggling Espanyol on May 6.