Bored of Real Madrid and Barcelona

I know that everytime there’s a clasico, we need to fawn and gush over the drama of the occasion, but actually it’s all becoming a bit stale.

Maybe it’s just because the fixture has been played so many times over the last two years, but the novelty of Mourinho against Guardiola has evaporated, and the game itself is always punctuated by the same events.

The cheating by Busquets and Alves.

The pouting from Cristiano Ronaldo.

Some generic brilliance from Leo Messi.

A contentious Real Madrid red card.

Yes, I know that this is football being played at its optimum level, but Barcelona against Real Madrid is actually a very unattractive fixture. It’s almost at the stage where it’s unwatchable, the melodrama, the haranguing of the referee, and the palpable animosity between all twenty-two players. These teams should set an example to the global audience that they attract but instead, they showcase all the worst elements of the sport.

There’s a media bias with which it’s covered too. Real Madrid are always the villains, the hatchet men trying to stop Barca playing – rubbish, these are two equally immoral teams separated by Pepe’s super-villainry. Watch Cesc Fabregas and Andres Iniesta’s pretence, Gerard Pique’s constant moaning, and Carlos Puyol’s referee-chasing. Swings and roundabouts.

This is why, despite the abundance of talent, La Liga still lags behind the Premier League in terms of its entertainment value – because its marquee fixture is becoming an intolerable mess of cheating and petulance.