Living classics

A weekend of fundamental confrontations took place in Europe

Last weekend in European football was marked by classic derbies. While in Russia the capital's Dynamo and Spartak tried to fight each other, in Italy Inter asserted itself in the match with Milan, in Glasgow Rangers took revenge on Celtic for leadership in the Scottish championship, and in London Chelsea escaped from Tottenham.

The celebration of continental football began in Catalonia, where Barcelona hosted Real Madrid. If in other matches emotions and old grievances came to the fore, then in the Spanish Superclassico the balance of power was determined before the final stretch of the championship. For Real, this game may have been the last chance to intervene in the championship fight. The “royal” club did everything to use it. Three times the guests took the lead, and three times the hosts of the Nou Camp equalized the score. And all three times the savior of Barça was the Argentinean Leo Messi, and his last goal was scored in stoppage time.

“Anything can happen in such games, but I could never imagine that I would score as many as three goals,” the hero of the match was amazed at his feat. - We managed not to lose, but still, Real Madrid cannot be discounted. Now there are four teams fighting for the championship, they will have to fight until the very end and not lose a single point. We must try to win all the remaining matches.” Messi's statement looks overly optimistic: it is unlikely that his Barcelona will be able to go the remaining distance without losses, which means that the entire fight for the championship is still ahead.

In Italy, everything was decided, essentially, before the start of the championship. Inter, which was not affected by Mojigate, received such a big head start that no one was able to catch up with it. The only thing left for the rivals is a chance to prove in personal meetings who is better. But few manage to use it either. “Milan”, in any case, was unable to gain the upper hand in the fundamental derby. And this despite the fact that it was Carlo Ancelotti’s team who opened the scoring in the match, and none other than Ronaldo, a forward to whom Inter owes a lot, scored for them. But now the “black and blues” greeted the Brazilian with a deafening whistle, and he answered them with a goal. In the second half, however, the good mood returned to the Inter fans again: goals from Cruz and Ibrahimovic turned this season of their team from simply successful into truly unforgettable: now not only the Scudetto has been won, but also the most important opponent has been defeated - 2:1.

“We lost today to a great team that rightfully leads the standings, it seems simply invincible,” even the booed Ronaldo was forced to admit the pattern of defeat, after which his Milan risks being left without the Champions League. Carlo Ancelotti's team is separated from fourth place by six points, and if this gap is not closed in the remaining 12 rounds, the head coach of the “red-blacks” will be forced to look for another job.

In another one of the oldest derbies in Europe, “Rangers” and “Celtic” were sorting things out for the 364th time. In Scotland, as in Italy, everything was decided a long time ago: “Celtic” is first, “Rangers” is second, and it is impossible to change the established order in one match. But, having lost the war, you can win at least a fundamental battle, which is what Walter Smith’s team did. The victory was brought to her by the crazy kick of the 34-year-old Ehiogu in a fall over himself - 1:0.

The weekend of classic confrontations closed with the match between London's Chelsea and Tottenham, who met in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. In those days, when Roman Abramovich had not yet thought about buying the Blues, and they did not even dream of joining the club of football millionaires, it was the meetings with Tottenham that were considered the most important and important of the season for Chelsea. It seems that the power of tradition in England is truly unbreakable, and the two London teams gave the fans an unforgettable performance. Before the break, Tottenham took the lead and led 3:1. In the second half, the hosts took the floor and, having equalized the score, gave London another derby - the winner of this pair will be determined in a replay.

Andrey VDOVIN