This Twitter Exchange Between Toni Kroos and Fede Valverde Is Too Good
El Clasico. Battle of the table toppers. One of the most watched football fixtures in the world.
Real Madrid vs. Barcelona is quite possibly the most talked about derbies of club football, with the winner enjoying bragging rights over their rivals.
The iconic fixture has been graced by world’s greatest footballers through generations and has served up pure genius and frame-worthy moments.
The match-up captures the imagination of millions around the globe, and celebrities often get involved in the build-up to increase the hype and show their allegiance.
Tom Cruise, Magnus Carlsen, Rafael Nadal, and Jennifer Lopez are some famous Real Madrid supporters, while Snoop Dogg, Justin Bieber, Bill Gates and Ranbir Kapoor fall on the other side of the line.
The matches are often feisty and always serve up some tasty storylines before, during and after the 90 minutes are played.
This game was no different, with another pop culture star joining Team Barca.
Pre-Game
Drake, a Canadian rapper, showed his support for the Catalonia team by betting heavily on them. And by heavy we mean…well, take a look at it yourself.
❗️Drake has placed a massive bet of €617,467 on Arsenal and Barça to win today against Leeds and Real Madrid. If he wins the bet, he will earn €2.890 million. pic.twitter.com/3RbpJmsHxL
The artist bet a whopping €617,467 on Barcelona winning against Madrid and Arsenal winning against Leeds in Premier League.
If both results went his way, Drake would pocket as much as €2.890 million.
The Game
The latest Clasico, which took place this weekend, was no different. The two giants of Spanish football started the game on equal points but did not end it the same way.
Real Madrid blew Barcelona out of the water with some good football, taking an early lead thanks to their French talisman Karim Benzema.
Federico Valverde then doubled the lead in the 35th minute with a fierce low shot past Ter Stegen.
Barcelona threatened a comeback when Ferran Torres got one back but Rodrygo was having none of it, killing the game when he converted a penalty that he earned in injury time.
Post-Game
Valverde: The Real Deal
It is not easy to stand out in the midst of two star-studded lineups.
But Federico Valverde managed to do just that, earning him a FotMob rating of 8.2 and the man of the match recognition.
The Uruguayan finished with an 85% passing rate, made 5 recoveries, won both of his aerial duels and made 2 tackles. And of course, scored the all-important second goal that was eventually the winner for Madrid.
Carlo Ancelotti in September: "I have told Fede Valverde that if he didn’t score at least 10 goals this season… I will tear up my coaching license and leave!". ⚪️ #RealMadrid
The performance earned the manager’s praise, with Carlo Ancelotti going on record saying “Kroos and Valverde were very, very good, in different ways, Kroos helped us play out from the back and he was strong defensively. … Valverde is getting used to playing in this position [on the right]. He’s scoring goals, and he has spectacular energy.”
While the Los Blancos manager praised him, his midfield partner went a step ahead and claimed that Valverde was a top-three player in the world.
One man’s gain is another’s loss. A big loss, in this case.
Drake’s expensive case did not pan out. Arsenal did win but FCB did not, meaning the rapper lost €617K.
And social media does not forget so easily. Many were revelling in the Canadian’s loss, and some Real Madrid stars were quick to join in.
First came the added-time goalscorer Rodrygo, who tweeted “God’s Plan” to mock his bet, which is one of Drake’s most popular songs.
Rodrygo Goes mocks Barça's collab with Drake using the name of one of his most popular songs, with 2 billion streams on Spotify. https://t.co/6E5UyK4Eja
