Things have barely remained friendly between two of the fiercest rivalries in world football, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, and Saturday is about to write a new chapter with a feisty managerial clash between Luis Enrique and Zinedine Zidane on the sidelines.
The El Clasico is, needless to say, one among the most fierce rivalries in world football and owing to the star power in both the teams is certainly the most commercialized too, with each game receiving an audience of close to a billion people worldwide. This often politically charged encounter also paves way for intense clashes on and off the pitch and there have been quite a few over the years in a century long tryst between two of Spain’s greatest football clubs.
However, the most notable one that comes to mind in the wake of Saturday’s Clasico is between Luis Enrique and Zinedine Zidane. The two quite literally clashed back in the day in an encounter way back in 2003 when the Barcelona boss squared up to the Frenchman for his tackle on Puyol only to get pushed on the face hence sparking chaos all around between players on the pitch. It’s hard to imagine a similar scenario on the sidelines on Saturday but just like a decade ago, the two are sure to have an impact on what promises to be yet another memorable clasico.
Clasico record
Luis Enrique is somewhat of a Clasico legend simply because of the fact that he contentiously enough featured for both the sides during his career. He featured in 27 clasicos, almost more than double his counterpart, with 11 of them coming with Real and 16 with the Catalans. He has scored 6 goals in those 27 encounters, 5 of which came for Barcelona. Enrique doesn’t share fond memories personally from his time at the Bernabeu and he even cited that as a major factor behind his contentious move on the free to the Camp Nou in 1996.
That said, the Barcelona boss has his name etched in Real Madrid folklore for having made it to the score sheet in one of the Los Blancos’ biggest ever wins over the Blaugrana in a 5-0 triumph at the Bernabeu during the 1994-95 season. He will forever be in the bad books of the Madrid faithful for his move to the Catalan capital, but given how things have transpired since then he doesn’t really care.
Zinedine Zidane, on the other hand, has featured in only half as many clasicos as his fellow counterpart scoring three goals over the course of 11 games with his Real Madrid side winning four and ending on the losing side on three occasions. His most notable contribution came in the 2001/02 Champions League semifinal when he famously scored at the Camp Nou to guide his side to a 2-0 victory in the first-leg. He then helped Real hold their bitter rivals to a 1-1 draw at home that enabled their progress through to the final where they sealed their 9th crown with a worldie from Zidane against Bayer Leverkusen.
As managers, the two only have five clasicos worth of experience between them with Zidane winning his only encounter back in April in a 2-1 success at the Camp Nou while Enrique has two wins and two losses apiece.
The Managerial battle
After enjoying glittering playing careers respectively, the two now line-up opposite each other once more on the sidelines and few people would have foreseen the kind of success the two have brought to their respective clubs already. Enrique, in his first-season with the Blaugrana, secured the treble while Zidane won the Champions League in just his first half-a-season with the Madridistas. Enrique is now into his third year in-charge of the Catalan outfit and has guided them to eight trophies while Zidane has two to his name in just under a year.
Such significant achievements in a short span of time deserves much praise and acclaim and while many have argued that they had the players to do so, ignoring the managers’ influence in the process would be abject naivety. Managers, apart from the coaching and tactical side of things, are often crucial in maintaining a winning mentality at the club. The difference in the Real Madrid side when Zidane took-over from Rafa Benitez was evident in the way they played on the pitch and few people thought anybody could get Barcelona playing better than they did under Pep Guardiola, but Enrique achieved exactly that.
Quite often, the duo seem to be under-rated as managers often leaving people with the opinion that their job at the club is limited to managing egos. While Enrique certainly proved his critics wrong, Zidane is beginning to do so as his side sit six points clear at the top of the league, despite the numerous injuries plaguing his side, while coming at the back of UEFA Champions League and UEFA Super Cup triumphs.
The Road to the Camp Nou
Things haven’t been easy for Barcelona in the month of November as they’ve picked up just two wins out of 7 games in all competitions in a run that has left them 6 points off the pace at the top of the table. And with their encounter against Real on Saturday, they could either close them down or leave a nine-point gap between them. Their loss to Zidane’s side back in April was the first time in four years that they had lost a Clasico at home and Enrique could ill-afford a similar result on Saturday.
Real Madrid, on the other hand, are cruising in the La Liga and are yet to be beaten this season in any competition. In their last 11 games in all competitions, they have smashed a staggering 43 goals past their opponents and it’ll prove to be a worrying sign for the Blaugrana. A win may definitely not guarantee the league for them, but barring any major slip-ups they will fancy their chances at their first league crown since the 2011-12 campaign.
