El Clásico: Barcelona vs Madrid – Football’s Greatest Rivalry was published back in October 2012 and digs into the history between our beloved club, Barça, and Real Madrid by Richard Fitzpatrick. Mr. Fitzpatrick presents a well-researched book with interesting stories and interviews with famous players and managers from both teams along with interviews with media figures who cover La Liga in Spain and the UK. Only 224 pages long, this book will keep you thoroughly entertained and would a great addition to your library.
Richard Fitzpatrick is a Liverpool fan from Ireland and has worked in Ireland, Canada and the US as a journalist. Thus, he has no side in this debate; just a simple pleasurable book that examines the history of this rivalry which became near lunacy during Mourinho’s era which finally came to an end this past summer. Mr. Fitzpatrick also delves into the history of Spain and the mentality of the public from the Franco era to the current time with regards to both Cules and Madridistas.
The history of Cules suffering during the Franco regime is a story that has been told many times but is one that just never seems to get old. Furthermore, the author does not retell the history of the rivalry by rehashing history and match reports. Quite the contrary, he actually traveled to Spain and stayed in both Barcelona and Madrid were he witnessed actual matches, such as the history “Manita” 5-0 drubbing at the Camp Nou to give the book a more unique personal feel as if you were there too.
Mr. Fitzpatrick does a great job in capturing the mood and feeling of both sets of fans with regards to the league and also about the Spanish national team. He discusses the sentiment Cules have regarding La Roja during and after winning the World Cup especially with so many Blaugrana players representing Spain.
However, the biggest highlights for me were his interviews with numerous individuals for this book. He was able to talk to Sanchís, Fernando Hierro and Vicente Del Bosque to get their views about national team setup and the history of this rivalry. The biggest coup though was managing to talk to Luis Figo which for some of us still represents one of the nasty moments of this rivalry. I was also delighted that he also got to speak with one of my all-time favorite Barça players, Hristo Stoichkhov, and also former Barça president Joan Laporta.
Mr. Fitzpatrick also took the time to speak with those in the media who cover La Liga such as Alfredo Relaño, Tomas Roncero, Santiago Segurola, Roberto Palomar, Michael Robinson and Sid Lowe just to name a few. One aspect of the book that I thoroughly enjoyed was the time the author spent with Penyas in other parts of the region to explain this rivalry more; did you know there are several Real Madrid Penyas in Barcelona and his exploration of both team’s hooligans; the Ultra Sur and Boixos Bois.
Although this book was published back in 2012, it just had a recent reprint back in September 2013 with additional information to keep it current. Overall, this book exceeded my expectations and is a fine addition for all Cules to include in their library. It covered the good, the bad, and the ugly regarding the Clásico rivals. The book is available in both paperback and Kindle formats which can be bought on Amazon and from the publishers, Bloomsbury Publishing. Mr. Fitzpatrick can be reached on twitter - @Richard_Fitz
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