Luka Modric was left baffled after Real Madrid’s friendly against Barcelona was suspended for an hour on Saturday night. El Clasico, one of the fiercest derbies in world football, is no stranger to drama. The historic rivalry has produced countless talking points and memorable moments over the decades.
It’s not just in competitive matches that the famous contest makes headlines either, as their latest meeting also caused controversy when play was suspended for over an hour by American referee Armando Villarreal. The reason? It was all down to the adverse weather conditions in New Jersey where the contest was taking place, with a thunderstorm in the local area raising concerns with the match officials.
Match Suspended Due to Weather Concerns
Luka Modric couldn’t believe it
Just 11 minutes were on the clock when the referee stopped the game due to concerns over the weather. A thunderstorm was reported close to the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, where the contest was held as part of the clubs’ respective pre-season tours of the United States, and the officials were concerned for safety reasons. The match was paused indefinitely and it was initially unclear whether it would resume. People in the arena were not happy with the decision and players including Modric were spotted looking perplexed at the call on the pitch. Watch the footage below:
The players were confused as there was no lightning or rain at the ground when the match was suspended, but the officials decided to pause things due to the storm taking place in the near vicinity. The game did eventually get back underway, though, with play resuming just over an hour after it was initially suspended. Considering how things panned out afterwards, though, Madrid may they hadn’t bothered coming back out.
Barcelona Won the Match 2-1
A brace from Pau Victor handed them the victory
While it is only a pre-season friendly, winning El Clasico is still mightily important to both Real Madrid and Barcelona. Having bragging rights over your rivals is always important and it is the latter team that have that honour right now. Hansi Flick’s men beat Los Blancos 2-1 after the match was restarted, with a brace from Pau Victor handing them the victory. The winger scored once in each half to send his team to the win.
Nico Paz came off the bench late in the game and scored to offer Carlo Ancelotti’s men a lifeline, but it proved to be nothing more than a consolation as Barcelona held them off. With Los Blancos dominating La Liga last season, and getting their hands on the league title alongside a Champions League trophy, the result might mean very little in the grand scheme of things, but they did the double in the league over their rivals, so the Catalan giants will be happy to have finally got back in the win column, regardless of the fact it wasn’t a competitive game.