Real Madrid

Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid meet in the first leg of their 2016-17 UEFA Champions League semifinal matchup on Tuesday, May 2, 2017. These fierce derby rivals have made a habit of meeting each other in the later stages of this competition in recent years with Real defeating Atletico in the 2013-14 final, the 2014-15 quarterfinals and the 2015-16 final that was decided on spot kicks. Here’s everything you need to know to watch the match, either live streaming online or on TV through your cable provider.

April's El Clásico was one of the best matches of the year, but my only complaint was that Isco didn’t come off the bench for Real Madrid. I’ll be the first to admit it, I was extremely late on the Isco train because of this reason — he's on the bench a lot.

The 25-year-old has never started more than 26 La Liga matches in a single season with Real Madrid. This year, he’s appeared as a substitute 11 times, and he’s on pace to total fewer league minutes than he ever has in a season with the club. 

Odds are that you haven’t yet come down from the high that was Sunday’s El Clasico. A constant back and forth battle was settled by the greatest soccer player of all time (I’m Argentinian, what else can I say) with a decisive strike in the final seconds of the match. 

While the game itself was a peach to watch, its ramifications are far-reaching in terms of who will come away with the La Liga trophy. Barcelona’s win at the death allowed for “¡Hay Liga!” shouts across the world. 

After Lionel Messi clinched a last-second victory in El Clasico on Sunday with his 500th career goal for Barcelona, Cristiano Ronaldo threw a fit.

Not sure whether Ronaldo was more annoyed at losing #ElClasico or the fact that Messi took the limelight again. pic.twitter.com/ZgdJerbFpq

There isn’t a more exhaustive match in the world than El Clasico — it consistently provides high-stakes, supercharged emotions and scintillating football from the world’s best players. It also has the distinction of pitting two clubs that loath one another in a physical, no-holds-barred and often controversial battle between international teammates.

Spain rely so heavily on drawing players from these two club that there’s always that boiling subplot to analyze and critique, especially as we approach another World Cup year. 

Lionel Messi's 500th Barcelona goal was scored in the 91st minute of El Clasico to defeat Real Madrid, 3-2. 

First, a note about the losers: Real Madrid were the better side for most of the game. They were more organized and more aggressive, even snatching an equalizer while playing with 10 men. It looked like Real would win it for a bit there, as they were entirely on the front foot in the latter stages of the game. But Real Madrid did not win this game. They did not win this game because they do not have Lionel Messi, and Barcelona do.

El Clasico is off to a hot start. It's 1-1 at the half via goals from Casemiro and Messi.

The Brazilian defensive midfielder opened the scoring with a rebound from a Sergio Ramos chance.

El Clasico is this weekend, and we happen to have some Real Madrid and Barcelona partisans on the staff here at The18. So we asked Bryce (a Barcelona fan) and Javier (a Real Madrid fan) to write about why the opposing team will win on Sunday.

Why Real Madrid Will Win El Clasico

By Bryce Badwan