Pep Guardiola🇪🇸: "The best-holding midfielders don't appear on the front pages of newspapers. They hide behind the team, but when the team plays well, it is because they are outstanding."

Luis de la Fuente🇪🇸: "Rodri has to be the Ballon d'Or. Give it to him, please. If you love football, watch Rodri instead of where the ball is. The guy has perfect game sense."

Matheus Nunes🇵🇹: "It's clear, Rodri should win the Ballon d'Or. I wish him a speedy recovery."

Thierry Henry🇫🇷: "My vote for Ballon d'Or is definitely Rodri."

Player Profile: 💪🦵

Full Name: Rodrigo Hernández Cascante

Age: 28 (Born June 22, 1996)

Position: Defensive Midfielder

Preferred Foot: Right

Place of Birth: Madrid, Spain

Style of Play:⚽️✨

Rodri’s presence on the pitch is defined by his physical strength, height, and tactical intelligence, which allow him to dominate in both tackles and aerial duels. His 73% tackle success rate and 100% aerial duel win rate in the 2022–23 season underscore his defensive prowess. His passing accuracy of 91–92% reflects his precision and composure, especially in high-stakes situations.

Serving as an anchor in the midfield, Rodri excels in regaining possession and initiating counterattacks, making him essential to his team’s build-up play. His vision and passing ability make him a deep-lying playmaker who can set the game’s tempo, as demonstrated by his role in orchestrating more play sequences than any other Premier League player in the 2023–24 season. Known for his versatility, he occasionally steps in as a ball-playing center-back, a position in which he thrived for Spain during the 2022 World Cup.

Rodri’s shooting has also been instrumental, particularly his long-range accuracy, as seen in his Champions League-winning goal for Manchester City against Inter in 2023. Though he may lack elite pace, he compensates with positional awareness, allowing him to disrupt even the fastest attackers in midfield.

Achievements: 🏆🥇

• UEFA Champions League: 2022–23
• UEFA Super Cup: 2018, 2023
• Premier League: 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24
• FA Cup: 2022–23
• EFL Cup: 2019–20, 2020–21
• FA Community Shield: 2019
• FIFA Club World Cup: 2023
• UEFA Champions League Player of the Season: 2022–23
• UEFA Champions League Team of the Season: 2022–23
• PFA Team of the Year: 2022–23, 2023–24
• FIFA Club World Cup Golden Ball: 2023
• Globe Soccer Awards Best Midfielder of the Year: 2023
• UEFA European Championship Player of the Tournament: 2024

With a rare blend of intelligence, skill, and composure, Rodri continues to redefine the role of a holding midfielder, proving indispensable to both his club and country.

Find the link here

Real Madrid vs. Barcelona, two of the biggest clubs in the world, meet several times a year, but these encounters represent more than just a battle for points.

Matches between Barcelona and Real Madrid are known as El Clásico (“The Classic”) and are watched throughout the world, in large part because of what the two sides symbolize for many of the ongoing political and cultural differences between Castilian (Madrid) and Catalonian (Barcelona) in Spain.

El Clasico is more than just a football match; it’s a historical exhibition that transcends sport. The El Clasico symbolizes a clash of identities, cultures, history, and ideologies.

But why is the El Clasico the “fiercest game in the world” and what are the myths and stories about the rivalry between the two teams that make it such a fiercely contested game? Let’s dive into the narrative surrounding this iconic fixture.

⌚The Roots of Rivalry: The General Franco Myth:⌚

The origins of El Clasico date back to the early 20th century, but the tension between Real Madrid and Barcelona according to “some sources”, became intense under General Franco’s dictatorship in Spain because of his ties to the Madrid club.

However, according to checks, that is just a myth because research shows that General Francisco Franco, was in fact, associated with Barcelona more than he was associated with Real Madrid.

While it is true that Barcelona, representing Catalonia, was seen as the symbol of resistance, while Real Madrid, formed by King Alfonso XIII, was associated with the central Spanish government, Franco, a dictator, was not a Real Madrid sympathizer as widely reported by Barca sources.

In actual fact, General Franco, leader of the Spanish dictatorship regime, was named an Honorary Member of the club in 1965. Before that however, Barca had the Minster Secretary-General of the General Franco’s Movement, Jose Solis Ruiz, inaugurate and open Barca’s famous stadium, the Camp Nou.

Not only that, General Franco in a newspaper publication, cleared Barca’s debts and reportedly saved them from bankruptcy on more than one occasion by reclassifying land owned by his regime.

Under the supposed “Real Madrid fan General Franco”, Barcelona won 8 Spanish League titles and 9 Copas Del Generalisimo (the Copa del Presidente de la República having been renamed in honor of General Franco), while Real Madrid had to wait 15 years to win their first league title.

So, really the animosity between Real Madrid and Barcelona while could be traced to the identity and history of foundation of both clubs, it really had nothing to do with General Franco’s “ties with the Los Blancos”.

💔Luis Figo & Di Stefano: Real Madrid’s Offense & Barca’s Heartbreak:💔

The tension between the football clubs from Spain’s two biggest cities was amplified by a struggle between the teams in the 1950s to sign Spanish player Afredo Di Stéfano.

According to reports, Di Stefano reneged on a proposed deal with Barcelona to sign with Real Madrid, helping the Los Blancos become a football power in the 1950s and 1960s as their top scorer for more than a decade.

As if that was not enough, in 2000, Real Madrid again poached and signed a Barcelona No. 10, in the person of Portugal winger and legend, Luis Figo, a move that raised the hatred and animosity between the two clubs up several notches.

Figo had spent five years at Barcelona, where he had won two La Liga titles, one Copa del Rey, and the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. He was also awarded the Ballon d'Or in 2000, which is given to the best player in Europe.

However, in the same year, Figo made the move to Barcelona's arch-rivals, Real Madrid, for a world-record transfer fee of €60 million in a time where he was not only the best Barcelona player but the best player in the world.

⚪Real Madrid 11, Barcelona 1: The Game That Worsened Matters⚪

On 13 June 1943, Real Madrid defeated Barcelona 11-1 in the second leg of the Copa del Generalísimo semi-finals, the Spanish Cup having been renamed in honor of General Francisco Franco.

In the first leg at Les Corts (Camp Nou's predecessor) Barcelona defeated Real Madrid 3-0, amid a tense atmosphere, with the end of the Civil War four years earlier still fresh in the memory.

According to reports, The Real Madrid players were given “hell” by the Barca fans in attendance with accusations of “strange calls” by the referee.

So because of that,  during the next few days, the Madrid press hammered on the attitude of Barcelona's fans, and urged for an exceptional answer from Real Madrid supporters in the return leg.

The hostility of Madrid fans at the start of the second leg was reported even greater than expected, with some players of Barcelona supposedly claiming "the feared for their lives".

Notwithstanding, it was the “pay-back” treatment of “booes” and “whistles” from Madrid fans at the Estadio Chamartin (former home of Madrid) that helped Real Madrid to an 8-0 lead at half time and 11-1 at the end of the match, thus advancing to the final 11-4 on aggregate.

It is safe to say that Spanish football and the incredible football game called El Clasico, was never the same after this game.

⚔️The El Clasico Will Forever Remain as Fierce:⚔️

In the end, El Clasico is more than just a game—it’s a sporting expression and exhibition of identities, history, and rivalry that dates a very long way back to the very beginning of both teams.

One thing is certain, whether Barcelona or Real Madrid, this El Clasico fixture will continue to deliver the best of entertainment and excitement for football lovers around the world for a very long time because when Real Madrid and Barcelona face off, the world watches.

🔗You can check out & follow the El Clasico & other games here on MSport.