Barca won't give Madrid guard of honour

Published on: 18 December 2017

Barcelona director of institutional relations Guillermo Amor says the club will not be giving a guard of honour to Club World Cup winners Real Madrid before Saturday's La Liga Clasico at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Two lines of opposition players welcoming newly crowned champions onto the pitch is a custom in Spanish football, with rival teams including Villarreal, Real Betis, Valencia and Real Mallorca having honoured either Madrid or Barca in this way in recent years in the first game following a Club World Cup success.

However, the guard of honour is not mandatory, and Sevilla last year chose not to line up when playing in the Copa del Rey against Madrid, while former Barca coach Pep Guardiola specifically asked Hospitalet players to refrain in 2011 as he felt the Club World Cup celebrations were already over.

Speaking after Sunday's 4-0 La Liga win at home to Deportivo La Coruna put Barca 11 points ahead of Madrid, although with one extra game played, Amor told Movistar Plus that the guard of honour would not be appropriate this weekend at the Bernabeu.

"We usually do the guard of honour in the same competition that has been won, which is not the case this time," the former Barca midfielder said.

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This came after Madrid fans and pundits had been welcoming a chance for a possible psychological boost ahead of what is a crunch fixture for their side.

Speaking in the mixed zone in Abu Dhabi after his goal had secured a fifth trophy of 2017 for Madrid, Cristiano Ronaldo said he hoped to see Barca lining up in respect before the game.

"It would be nice and I would like Barcelona to give us a pasillo," Ronaldo said. "I hope we can beat Barcelona and keep La Liga alive. We are gaining confidence and going to improve and end [the season] very well."

Madrid midfielder Luka Modric, named player of the tournament at the 2017 Club World Cup, told reporters that his team were coming into better form now and could take their chance to cut into Barca's lead by winning on Saturday.

"Our next challenge is to continue winning titles," Modric said. "We've got a great chance to cut the deficit on Saturday. We're on a good run, we believe in what we're doing, playing better and I hope we can show that against Barcelona as well."

Source: espn.co.uk

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