A new season is about to begin and the rivalry between the FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, the two eternal rivals of European football, will not stop. Both clubs are in the mood to ‘reinvindicate themselves’ after a course in which they did not leave the best possible sensations. In the case of Ronald KoemanThey had a very ‘warm’ start, but woke up in 2021 to win the Copa del Rey title, although it was not enough for them to take the double.
With Madrid, the situation was more distressing for their fans. The ‘merengues’ remained in the top positions of the League throughout the course, with options to ‘snatch’ the title from Atlético de Madrid until the last day. In the Champions League, they reached the semifinals, but they finished the course in zero and with more doubts than certainties, in addition to the ‘escape’ of several of their stars (Zinedine Zidane, Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane).
That is why this transfer market was considered as a key for teams to strengthen and they also got ‘relays’ from several players, or at least an ‘extra’ footballer to replace them, if it were to be the case, because the reality is that both Barça and Madrid have had the same stars for many years … And is a change of scenery already necessary?
The whole of the Ciudad Condal has rejuvenated its squad to a great extent and, in addition to those, the young people are being key to the team. In the past course, players such as Pedri González (18), Ronald Araújo (22) and Òscar Mingueza (22), without forgetting Sergiño Dest (20) or Frenkie de Jong (24), players with ‘more’ experience. To that must be added the names of Ilaix Moriba (18), Ansu Fati (18), Riqui Puig (21) Ousmane Dembélé (24) or the new signings: Eric García (20) and Emerson Royal (22).
Among the most ‘older’ are Clément Lenglet (26), Samuel Umtiti (27), Memphis Depay (27), Sergi Roberto (29), Coutinho (29) o Ter Stegen (29). In the ’30s club’, In which before there were so many players, now there are: Griezmann (30), Braithwaite (30), Pjanic (31), Neto (32), Jordi Alba (32), Sergio Busquets (33), Sergio Agüero (33), Gerard I hammered (34) and Leo Messi, when his continuity is announced, with 34.
Very different at Real Madrid
In the last year, at the Camp Nou they have managed to ‘combine’ youth with experiencea, but at Real Madrid the situation has been very different and there are several (or too many) players who are over 30 years old and are still key for the team (they have no relief, in short). The youngest are Kubo (20), Rodrygo (20), Vinícius (21), Lunín (22), Odegaard (22), Valverde (23), Militão (23), Jovic (23), Vallejo (24) and Ceballos (24).
Among the most ‘older’ are Asensio and Odriozola, with 25, as well as Mendy (26) and Mariano Díaz (28). At 29, there are several Madrid players: Alaba, Courtois, Isco, Casemiro and Dani Carvajal. Finally, the ’30’s club’ is made up of Lucas Vázquez (30), Hazard (30), Nacho (31), Bale (32), Marcelo (33), Benzema (33) and Luka Modrid (35).
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