The referee's whistle cut through the simmering tension, and the ball was back in play. With the score 2–2 and both sides breathing heavily, every touch, every pass, carried the weight of destiny. Camp Nou surged to its feet, the fans' chants coalescing into a living roar of "Bar-ça! Bar-ça!" and "Hala Madrid!" in equal measure. This was not merely a match—it was a crucible.
This was the el clasico, the battle between the Catalan giants and the original kings of Spain, this generational football battle is something that had always managed to get the attention of all of the footballing society.
For a while, the el clasico had been dominated by the Madrid side, however, with the new arrival of this seventeen year old child genius called Elian Slade and the pairing up with Santos, things were very much susceptible to change.
