Is America Excited About El Clasico on Saturday?

For the record, I'm calling a 3-2 win for Los Blancos over Barca with a brace for CR7.

You forgot about the debut (in a competitive match) in an FCB kit for one Mr. Luis Suarez.

What a game to make your debut!

I had a chance to attend a RM/FCB match back in 2001. We flew over Thursday, went to game on Saturday, flew home on Sunday. To say it was intense is to put it mildly. The match, the fans, the atmosphere was unreal. It put an NFL (American football) game to shame, honestly. Even a game amongst long time rivals in the NFL comes nowhere close to Madrid/Barcelona.

How did you get tickets? Back then you couldn't do it online, no?

Who will Suarez bite?

It's funny how much more significance the English PL has over La Liga in the US.

If you look at the UEFA 5 year rankings, the Spanish league is by far the best. The English PL league is just above the German Bundesliga, by a very slight margin and may well be surpassed by Bundesliga soon.

http://www.uefa.com/memberassociations/uefarankings/country/

Keep in mind England is going to lose more than 2.500 points at the end of the season when 10/11 results are eliminated.

Yes. Anyone here with DishWorld (for Diamond League) can watch it on there.

German Guy wrote:

It's funny how much more significance the English PL has over La Liga in the US.

If you look at the UEFA 5 year rankings, the Spanish league is by far the best. The English PL league is just above the German Bundesliga, by a very slight margin and may well be surpassed by Bundesliga soon.

http://www.uefa.com/memberassociations/uefarankings/country/

Keep in mind England is going to lose more than 2.500 points at the end of the season when 10/11 results are eliminated.

Yeah but those rankings change all the time, not like we're going to keep switching the league we watch every single year based on who has the highest country coefficient...

For me, La Liga is the most exciting and the Bundesliga the best organised. Both have better quality football than the English Premier League which is just the best marketed. Also, the EPL has very few top stars that are actually English.

El Keniano wrote:

How did you get tickets? Back then you couldn't do it online, no?

My brother was playing high school soccer and his coach knew someone that worked for FCB.

HALA MADRID!

seattleftw wrote:

Who will Suarez bite?

He'll be wearing a mask similar to the one worn by Hannibal Lecter so he won't be biting anyone.

Perhaps, but NBC broadcasts every (if not, it's close) Premier League game on channels we all get. Soccer has *definitely* taken a bump in terms of the US continuing to care after the World Cup, but we speak the same language as those on the English Isles. That has to play a part in what previous posters were describing in the EPL bias. That said, there are definitely La Liga fans abound in the US, it's just not the same.

If Suarez thinks he's so tough, he should try biting fellow head-case, Pepe. That'll start WWIII for sure.

Rooting for Barca over Madrid 3 to 1 and hoping to see Man U which I used to hate Beat Chelsea tomorrow. Most In the states are fair weather fans but most of the Hispanics, Europeans and immigrants I teach are excited.

Link to watch online free anywhere???

WHAT.A.GAME! 81 mins still Real 3 Barca 1. And it's not over by a stretch.

Should've posted this link from the start if I'd known it wasn't being widely broadcast on TV in the US.

http://tvmotive.blogspot.com/2014/10/real-madrid-vs-barcelona-live-streams.html?tv3

Real Madrid win 3-1. Barcelona and, especially, Messi seem to have lost their edge. Messi is getting sluggish in his late 20s while Ronaldo is a better player at 30 than when he was 20.

Someone should put Suarez and Tyson in the ring and see who'll bite the other into submission!

El Keniano wrote:

Real Madrid win 3-1. Barcelona and, especially, Messi seem to have lost their edge. Messi is getting sluggish in his late 20s while Ronaldo is a better player at 30 than when he was 20.

Bad game for Barcelona.

I was really impressed by RM today. They had a sense of purpose and played a good game.

Messi has been on and off since before the world cup and the lethargy with which he played the final against Germany was disturbing (at least to me).

El Clasico without Mourinho is not El Clasico.

To be clear, I have never liked the man but Mourinho usually instructs his brigand not to miss the man and the ball.

Sergio Ramos (thug in chief), Pepe (assistant thug) and Marcelo (big thug wannabe) always made it entertaining.

How CAN AN EL CLASICO END WITHOUT SERGIO RAMOS BEING THROWN OUT?

Actually, how can an El Clasico end without Sergio Ramos being booked?

El Clasico is incomplete without a little blood and even that beInsport duo of Phil Schoen and Ray Hudson would agree with me.

It is Mourinho's drama that colours the whole thing. Today's was really dull but great game for Real.