It is not common for rival clubs to congratulate each other when one of them wins a title. At most a post on Twitter, protocol, as Barcelona did last weekend when congratulating Real Madrid on consecration in the Spanish Championship.
However, in Spanish football, there is a tradition of the “pasillo”, a runner formed by players from a team who greet their opponent with applause after they have won an important cup.
This Sunday (9), at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium, Atletico Madrid players will not form any aisle. Applause, only for the fans themselves.
Whether or not to do the “pasillo” has been discussed in the Spanish press in recent days. Atletico, in an official way, has already informed that it will not carry out any type of act that alludes to the rival’s title. Treat it as a humiliation.
“If I had to make the decision, it seems like a show of respect to give the ‘pasillo’ to the champion team. Getafe did it to Betis (who won the Copa del Rey), I did it to other teams. When I was at Real , they did to us. I have no idea why the gesture went astray”, said Fernando Hierro, former captain of Real Madrid and former coach of the Spanish national team.
The last act of this kind that had the greatest impact took place in the 2007/08 season, when Barcelona visited Real at the Santiago Bernabéu.
​Spanish champions, the madridistas were greeted with applause by the players of the Catalan team. At the time, Barcelona was coached by Frank Rijkaard. Some athletes like Sergio Ramos and Xavi, opponents in the classic and teammates, greeted each other during the act.
On the field, Real Madrid won by 4 to 1. It was the third and last “pasillo” held in a Real x Barcelona.
The tradition, which dates back to the 1970s, has recently been broken. Scars from what was probably the most tense decade in the rivalry between the two biggest clubs in the country.
In December 2017, shortly after the madridistas won the Club World Cup, Barça did not make the gesture of recognition for the title. Then, in May 2018, it was Real’s turn to discard the “pasillo” as a show of respect for the Catalans, recent LaLiga champions, as Espanyol is called.
“I’m not one to decide that I don’t want to do the ‘pasillo’. They didn’t. We respectfully won’t do it. The most important thing is that we respect what Barcelona achieved, winning the league, which for me is the most beautiful thing. and the most complicated. But that happened, and it’s my question, it’s not the club’s. If they had done the ‘pasillo’, I wouldn’t have broken with anything that was done before”, said Zidane, Real Madrid coach in 2018.
LuÃs GarcÃa, revealed at Barcelona and with two spells at Atlético de Madrid, thinks that Simeone’s team should do it.
“Values ​​are passed on to the new generations, and this is being lost a little. It is important that this kind of thing is seen through the great platforms that are today the great clubs. , on the day their turn comes, they will too”, says the Spanish striker, champion of the Champions League with Liverpool.
This Sunday, although for Real Madrid the duel is worth little, for Atlético the three points are important.
The team, ranked fourth with 61 points (three more than Betis), wants to remain in the rankings for the next Champions League. And he also wants, of course, to prevent his rival from celebrating another triumph in a special week, even more so in his own home. The Spanish title won last weekend and the epic qualification to the European final were enough blows.
I have worked in the news industry for over 10 years. I have a vast amount of experience in covering health news. I am also an author at News Bulletin 247. I am highly experienced and knowledgeable in this field. I am a hard worker and always deliver quality work. I am a reliable source of information and always provide accurate information.
