Casillas: "Those Clásicos brought out the extreme madridismo which I've never liked"
The Porto goalkeeper is the special guest on tomorrow's 'Universo Valdano' and recalled the heated Madrid-Barça games in 2011 which had a political edge.
Iker Casillas is the special guest on the latest edition of Movistar+ programme Universo Valdano in which he recalled the heated series of Clásicos which Real Madrid and Barcelona played out in 2011. José Mourinho's Madrid were dealt a 5-0 hammering at Camp Nou in November 2010 then the following year, Madrid and Barça would go on to meet four times in domestic and European competition in three frenetic weeks between April and May. Madrid beat Guardiola's side to clinch the Copa del Rey in Valencia while the Catalans eliminated their eternal rivals from the semi-finals of the Champions League. The spoils were shared meanwhile when the two sides played the return the league game at the Bernabéu.
Things got out of hand - Casillas
For Casillas, the media hype on top of huge expectation got a bit too much at times. “Those games were just madness", he explained. "There was a lot of tension because you started seeing that kind of madridísmo which I have never liked and it gets to a point where it’s no longer football. It just consumed the football side of things and almost seemed like a war of politics between Catalunya and Spain. I’m a madridista and I always want Real Madrid to win – I’ve been like that my whole life and that’s how I’ll always be but I don’t go to those extremes”.