Navi Mumbai: 2-0 it finished to Real Madrid Legends at the DY Patil Stadium on Sunday, a small feel-good win for the Los Blancos stars of yesteryear, seeing as El Clasico, otherwise, hasn’t been too kind to Real Madrid of late.
A delightful chip with the outside of his boot saw former Ballon d’Or winner Luis Figo create the opening goal for Madrid, neatly finished by Fernando Morientes. In the second half, David Barral seized his moment to beat a couple of Barcelona defenders and tap home.
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel.
But this ‘Legends Faceoff’ wasn’t about the result, even if the thousands of Madrid fans among the crowd might strongly disagree. This was an exhibition game meant to give football fans here a just a small bite of the most storied rivalry in club football across the world.
And for most of them, seeing Luis Figo dance past defenders like it were 2001, seeing Xavi looking to thread the ball through to Rivaldo and Patrick Kluivert, seeing Pepe thwart a Barcelona attack, or seeing Carles Puyol, his curly locks flying about in the humid Navi Mumbai air, try to rally his teammates, was a fulfilling experience in itself.
Even Mumbai City captain and India international Lallianzuala Chhangte, who watched the game from the press box with a couple of his club teammates, was left in awe. “Xavi is just wow, the way he glances over his shoulder to check where he should be. These are things sadly they don’t teach us here,” the winger remarked.
Shortly after the full-time whistle blew, a few ambitious fans weren’t quite ready to accept that the evening was done. One young boy channelled his inner-Figo and tried desperately to skip his way past security and get closer to the players. Halted in his tracks by a guard, it looked like he would be heading home disappointed, until Christian Karembeu, a two-time Champions League winner with Real Madrid, walked up to him and handed the lad his jersey.
A delightful chip with the outside of his boot saw former Ballon d’Or winner Luis Figo create the opening goal for Madrid, neatly finished by Fernando Morientes. In the second half, David Barral seized his moment to beat a couple of Barcelona defenders and tap home.
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel.
But this ‘Legends Faceoff’ wasn’t about the result, even if the thousands of Madrid fans among the crowd might strongly disagree. This was an exhibition game meant to give football fans here a just a small bite of the most storied rivalry in club football across the world.
And for most of them, seeing Luis Figo dance past defenders like it were 2001, seeing Xavi looking to thread the ball through to Rivaldo and Patrick Kluivert, seeing Pepe thwart a Barcelona attack, or seeing Carles Puyol, his curly locks flying about in the humid Navi Mumbai air, try to rally his teammates, was a fulfilling experience in itself.
Even Mumbai City captain and India international Lallianzuala Chhangte, who watched the game from the press box with a couple of his club teammates, was left in awe. “Xavi is just wow, the way he glances over his shoulder to check where he should be. These are things sadly they don’t teach us here,” the winger remarked.
Shortly after the full-time whistle blew, a few ambitious fans weren’t quite ready to accept that the evening was done. One young boy channelled his inner-Figo and tried desperately to skip his way past security and get closer to the players. Halted in his tracks by a guard, it looked like he would be heading home disappointed, until Christian Karembeu, a two-time Champions League winner with Real Madrid, walked up to him and handed the lad his jersey.
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