El Clásico is not just the biggest game in Spain; it is the biggest game in all of European football. A clash between two of the game’s most famous institutions, this is a derby that transcends the boundaries of traditional rivalry and a fixture which has come to represent regional identities and the quest for pseudo-political superiority.

This Monday, in a city that will be feverish with civic activity in the wake of the latest Catalan elections, Real Madrid and Barcelona will once again take to the field to do battle, the spectacular Camp Nou providing a fitting backdrop. As Phil Ball writes in his excellent book, Morbo: The Story of Spanish Football, the context to any Clásico is a century of mutual antipathy. This is no ordinary game of football. 

The Recent Past  

While any tie involving these two clubs is a momentous occasion, this season in particular has raised the stakes to unprecedented levels. Recent campaigns have seen Barcelona dominate the domestic scene, their beautiful brand of football drawing gushing praise from around the world and leaving their Castilian rivals playing catch-up. The response from the capital was to spend more money than ever before, Florentino Pérez returning as Madrid president in the summer of 2009 and bringing about a return to the Galáctico policy which so characterised his first term in office from 2000 to 2006.

The final piece of the Madrid puzzle was put in place at the conclusion of last season, Chilean coach Manuel Pellegrini being replaced by José Mourinho – the Portuguese fresh from securing an historic treble with Internazionale. Mourinho, arguably Los Blancos’ first galáctico manager, has been charged with putting a stop to the Catalan dominance of La Liga and taking Real Madrid back to the summit of both Spanish and European football.

In the cauldron of the Camp Nou, where the Portuguese is resented for his dismissive behaviour towards his former employers (he was once a translator and coach with Barcelona), Mourinho will doubtless relish the opportunity to silence his Catalan critics. For the “Special One”, Monday represents his first real test in Spain, a test of his famed coolness under the most intense of scrutiny and his ability, tactically and physically, to get the very best out of the extremely talented pool of players at his disposal. The pressure is on.

Despite the great hype that surrounds each and every derby, recent Clásicos have very much gone the way of Barcelona, the Catalans having won the last four encounters between the sides, several of them with some degree of comfort.

In December 2008, Juande Ramos took Madrid to the Camp Nou in his first game in charge, a particularly physical display earning Los Blancos few admirers but getting them close to securing a draw before late goals from Samuel Eto’o and Lionel Messi – who had both been subjected to some rather brutal treatment – clinched the game for the home side. The second Clásico that season could hardly have been more different, Guardiola’s side destroying their rivals 6-2 at the Santiago Bernabéu as Ramos’ tenure came to a disappointing end.

Last season, under the stewardship of Pellegrini, Madrid were far closer to the footballing level of Barça but still came up short. A Zlatan Ibrahimović volley was enough to decide a closely-fought encounter at the Camp Nou, while goals from Messi and Pedro won it in Madrid despite promising counter-attacking displays from Real on both occasions. Indeed, recent Clásico results have very much reflected Barcelona’s contemporaneous hegemony within Spanish football.

Messi v Ronaldo

Of course, despite all the history and politics that goes with this fixture, Monday’s clash can be framed as a battle between two individuals: Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. Undoubtedly the two best players of their era, the form of both men has been simply phenomenal of late.

Ronaldo, who has surely been playing the best football of his career this season, has scored 18 goals in his last 19 games, also providing six assists and unsurprisingly becoming the attacking spearhead of Mourinho’s unbeaten team. Messi, on the other hand, has scored a phenomenal 23 in 18 so far this season (not to mention the small matter of nine assists), the Argentine seemingly unplayable at times as he proceeds to thrill audiences with the pure electricity of his form.

Never before have two players in such breathtaking form come up against one another in a game as big as this; George Best never played against Johann Cruyff at club level, and Pelé never faced Diego Maradona. In many ways this is a truly historic meeting of individuals on a football field. Yes, Messi and Ronaldo have played each other several times before, the 2009 Champions League Final being a prime example, but they were not quite the players then that they are now.

Monday night, with a supporting cast comprising of Xavi Hernández, Andrés Iniesta, David Villa, Xabi Alonso and Mesut Özil, will provide both superstars with the perfect stage to go toe-to-toe and prove, one way or the other, that they are the best player on the planet.

Talking Tactics       

To return to the two team collectives, Monday’s game should be a fascinating tactical duel between two of Europe’s most adept technical coaches. Since taking over at the Bernabéu, Mourinho has deployed something approaching a 4-2-3-1 formation, playing Sami Khedira and Xabi Alonso as holding midfielders with Ángel di María, Özil and Ronaldo in an attacking three behind the lone striker, Gonzalo Higuaín.

If the second leg of Inter’s Champions League semi-final is anything to go by, Mourinho will likely order his defence to sit deep and hold their positions. Protected by the two-man wall of Alonso and Khedira, the back six will look to squeeze the space between the lines which Barça (in particular Xavi, Iniesta and Messi) so delight in exploiting. Playing on the counter-attack, adhering to a relatively strict shape will be crucial to Madrid if they are to limit the space afforded to the Blaugrana’s attackers and make the most of the chances they get to break from the back.

Like Mourinho, Guardiola is also unlikely to make significant changes to his starting eleven, the Catalan legend having no cause to deviate from his tried and tested 4-3-3/2-3-2-3 formation. With Daniel Alves and Maxwell providing width from full-back, Barcelona’s nominal wide forwards are afforded the freedom to cut inside and focus the point of the attack, thereby giving the team greater scope to unpick a deep and massed defensive line. With Real Madrid likely to keep six men behind the ball on Monday night, it is a strategy that we will almost certainly see from the home side as they look to overhaul their rivals at the top of the division.

The World Waits

With so many dramatic narratives running between these two most famous of teams, Monday night’s game looks set to be very special indeed. So infrequently are we treated to a spectacle involving arguably the game’s two best sides and its two best players in direct confrontation, a fixture infused with historical and political significance as well as immediate relevance to a title race that will be decided by the finest of margins.

El Clásico is one of the biggest games in football, but rarely has it been bigger than this. The world waits with bated breath.