If the SHIRT fits wear it

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This article was published 09/04/2021 (1955 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It must be the shirts that do it.

There is the famous meringue of Real Madrid and Barcelona’s blaugrana, nicked from Switzerland’s FC Basel. Somehow, it almost doesn’t matter who is wearing them.

Or maybe it’s the season that adds to the atmosphere, at least for today.

The cool, dry Madrid winter has given way to a mild, damp spring. They’re expecting rain tonight at Valdebebas. Forgive the cliché, but hope is indeed in the air ahead of this Clasico (2 p.m., beIN Sports). A fragile hope, perhaps. Then again, this encounter only recently took on the title implications that will only add importance to what is arguably the most iconic match in club football.

Atletico Madrid are largely to thank for that. Atop La Liga since the second week of December, what once seemed an unassailable lead has disintegrated since February, and both Real Madrid and Barcelona have taken advantage.

Somehow.

With three spells of wobbles this term, Real Madrid looked almost certain to give up their title when they dropped to third in early March. They struggled mightily in the absence of striker Karim Benzema — now recovered from injury — and there were even murmurs about manager Zinedine Zidane getting the sack if he couldn’t turn things around.

A March 7 draw at Atletico did the champions no favours, but they haven’t lost since and even beat Liverpool in the Champions League on Tuesday.

The veteran midfield trio of Casemiro, Toni Kroos and Luka Modric, having looked well past it earlier in the schedule, are rediscovering the form that delivered three successive European Cups. Offensively, Marco Asensio and Vinicius Junior are chipping in, and Benzema happens to be the form striker in Europe at the moment.

In other words, Madrid are hitting their stride at exactly the right time, and a Champions League-La Liga double is very much within the realm of possibility.

Barcelona are an even more unlikely contender.

In sixth spot as recently as New Year’s (they fell to 13th in November), the Catalan giants haven’t lost in four months. In fact, they’ve dropped only two points in all of 2021 and have also booked a place in the final of the Copa del Rey. And they’ve done it amidst the sort of chaos only they seem capable of generating.

They entered the season, don’t forget, following that 8-2 thrashing by Bayern Munich and the resulting existential crisis. Luis Suarez was jettisoned, and until he took the field a lot of people wondered if Lionel Messi would leave the club as well.

He didn’t, but he didn’t get a lot of help at the outset, nor did he seem to be enjoying himself in any way, shape or form. New manager Ronald Koeman didn’t exactly win hearts and minds, and it took eight matches for Barcelona to win three.

Then former president Josep Maria Bartomeu and three additional club officials, including CEO Oscar Grau, were arrested for corruption and money laundering. Additionally, they were alleged to have hired an outside media company to defame and disparage other club figures, including Messi.

Incidentally, Barcelona haven’t lost or drawn in La Liga since the arrests, and their run of form, combined with Atletico’s slump, has lifted them to second in the standings.

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Messi, not surprisingly, is still doing his thing, but Ousmane Dembele is also chipping in with goals, and, crucially, Antoine Griezmann is finally coming good, with tallies in two of his last three outings. Midfielder Pedri, having only turned 18 in November, has been a revelation, and the versatile Frenkie de Jong has shifted effectively between defense and the centre of the park.

Between them, and for all the messes they seemed to be in previously, Real Madrid and Barcelona have lost exactly once since December — a combined 38 games.

The occasion of the Clasico may mean it doesn’t matter who wears the shirts, but right now, at this point in the season, both sides have reason to hope in the players putting them on.

jerradpeters@gmail.com