The hype leading up to El Clásico Miami was hard to ignore. Real Madrid C.F.vs. F.C. Barcelona, the two premier clubs from La Liga, Spain’s professional soccer league. One team, Real Madrid, winners of the 2017 Champions League. The other team, Barcelona, has a roster with Lionel Messi and Neymar Jr.
, two of the greatest living athletes in the world and some of the greatest players to ever play the game.This was the first time El Clásico has ever been held on American soil (shout out to Heineken for making this game happen!). The name translates to ‘The Classic’ and refers to match where Real Madrid and Barcelona meet on the pitch. By most accounts, this is the biggest rivalry game in the world. Leading up to El Clásico Miami, I read an article in the Miami Herald which claimed that hosting this game was bigger for the city of Miami than hosting the Super Bowl.
I immediately wanted to call ‘shenanigans’ on this bold claim, but there’s some merit to it. Both Real Madrid and Barcelona have MASSIVE fan bases across the globe. Soccer is the most popular sport on the planet. Forbes ranks Barcelona as the #4 most valuable sports team in the world (worth $3.64 billion), and Real Madrid is the #5 most valuable at $3.58 billion. Only Manchester United, the New York Yankees, and the Dallas Cowboys are worth more than these two teams.
Like I said, the hype surrounding this game was real.
