The bosses on either side of the Clasico division were in good shape on Sunday, although it is Real Madrid who is closing in to become Spanish champions.
As the footballers advance, Lionel Messi and Sergio Ramos could not be much more different.
One is the ultimate magician with the ball at his feet. The other a true master of the defensive dark arts.
What they have in common, however, is their willingness to win.
It must be argued that no player wants to win more in La Liga than Messi and Ramos. At the very least, they are the people who most allow their emotions to manifest in their body language in the field.
Over the past week, the opposition captains of Real Madrid and Barcelona have met at the heart of the League title race.
Messi has been plowing almost a lone furrow in terms of Barça’s challenge, with Quique Setien’s side uninspired for most games after the block.
The Argentine mercurial has slashed a dwindling figure for much of the past four weeks, as a two-point lead at the top of the table has turned into a four-point deficit with just a quartet of games to play.
Consider your public disputes with Blaugrana President Josep Maria Bartomeu and Sports Director Eric Abidal, and 2020 has not been a classic year for the six-time Ballon d’Or winner.
Ramos, on the other hand, has been questioned at times this season for his performances. However, since the blocking restrictions were lifted and soccer was returned, he has returned to his best level of inspiration.
The Spain captain has five goals in Madrid’s seven games after the shutdown, including the winning goal from the penalty spot in each of his last two games.
During that period, he also became the player with the most goals in La Liga history, with his 10 league goals this season, second only to Karim Benzema among the Whites team.
Their last winning turn of the match was against Athletic Club on Sunday when Madrid struggled hard to secure three points in what is probably the most difficult of their last five games of the season.
Although there will be fans who continue to question some of the refereeing decisions that have led Madrid to win all seven games after the shutdown, there is no doubt that Ramos has been so key to them on the cusp of a second league title since 2012.
In addition to his goals, he is the leader of the poorest defense in Europe in terms of goals conceded, with Madrid having sent just 21 goals in his 34 league games in 2019-20.
“Individual recognition is the second for me,” Ramos said after the game at San Mamés. “What matters is that the team gets the goals we want and we get all three points in every game we play. Fortunately, at the moment, we are getting those results.”
“I probably would have played tennis if I had been more interested in individual recognition. This is a very beautiful sport, a team sport, and it is very good to win as a team.”
In Catalunya, Messi has long waited for Barcelona to start consistently winning as a team rather than relying on their only outstanding individual.
Time and time again Messi has been trusted to wear the Camp Nou outfit, and although he has done a more than admirable job of doing it at the national level, the growing understanding that Barça would not be defending his title in the last two weeks has led some to consider whether the current team is beyond help, including the club’s best player.
It was encouraging then, in the week Messi left the talks to extend his contract beyond the end of the 2020-21 season, that Setien’s team performed its best last month when seeing Villarreal.
Messi’s decision is understood to be a movement designed to put pressure on Bartomeu ahead of the presidential election 12 months from now, and given his performance on Sunday night, Barça fans will continue to hope that the threat of his departure is not more than a threat directed at the boardroom rather than an act it will eventually go through.
Deployed by Setien in a new role at the helm of a diamond in midfield, Messi was at his best creative moment combining superbly with Luis Suarez and Antoine Griezmann ahead.
After the teams exchanged the first blows through an own goal by Pau Torres and a close end by Gerard Moreno, Messi changed the game in favor of Barça in the 20th minute.
He lowered a long ball forward before turning and driving toward the target, drawing Villarreal’s defenders towards him as he advanced. With the space opening up in front of him, Messi lay down on Suarez, who snuggled a lovely finish in the upper corner.
Attendance, Messi’s eighteenth league season, saw him match his best season to create league goals, and he only had to wait until the closing moments of the first half to set a new personal record.
This time, the highly maligned Griezmann was the recipient, with the international network of France with a delicate chip on Sergio Asenjo after Messi had returned the ball on his way.
A late goal by substitute Ansu Fati ensured that Barça would take all three points and keep what little pressure remains on Real Madrid at the top of the table.
But with the swift return of the Champions League, he will have pleased Setien that his new system worked so well against a team that he had not lost since soccer returned; a race that had catapulted the yellow submarine into the top four race.
The fact that Messi was at the center will have been equally satisfying, even if it looks like Ramos will come out on top in the battle of the inspiring Captains of Clásico this season.
They do it in very different ways, but two of the main protagonists of La Liga continue to create their own headlines. Winning remains your driving force.
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