El Clasico 2012: Barcelona vs. Real Madrid Establishes Itself as Best Rivalry

El Clasico, the famous matchup between Barcelona and Real Madrid, was, well, classic again Saturday as Los Merengues all but locked up a La Liga title with their 2-1 victory.

More important than the result, however, is the fact that this rivalry is now at an all-time high. It's always been, at the very least, one of the best rivalries in the world, but Barca's domination in the recent past has taken a little bit away of the luster.

It was a good rivalry, but it wasn't perfect.

In the last seven matches between these two Spanish giants, Barcelona won six and tied one, meaning Real Madrid's last win was in May of 2008. Of course, before that it was much more back and forth, but the domination goes beyond just head to head.

Barca had won 34 straight La Liga matches at home before this one. They hadn't lost two matches in a row since 2009. They had won La Liga three straight seasons. But now Real is the clear favorite to win it this year. 

They are the squad everyone points to in the discussion of world's best, and for a long time, there was no argument. 

Over the past three years, Barca have been the hot, popular sister, while Real have been the good-looking, but overshadowed younger sister.

Always the bridesmaid, never a bride.

After Saturday's win, it appears Los Blancos are finally back to being a bride. And that means this famous rivalry is about to get even better.

When Barca are at their best, things get a little boring. The way they play the game is beautiful, but it can get boring. They are clearly the best team in the world when they are on, but every superhero needs a villain. 

They need a team just as good as them to continue to make things interesting, and it goes without saying Real Madrid is the only team right now in La Liga capable of competing with Barcelona on a consistent basis. 

No matter who you support, it was good to see Real give Barcelona a bit of their own medicine today. It was good to see the world's best rivalry at an all-time high. It's good to see two of the best teams in the world competing in historic matches. 

Oh yeah, and that little rivalry between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi took another step forward in their most recent contest, too.

Good, good. 

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