Barça Rewind: A record attendance for El Clásico

Although the league Clásico from April 2, 2016 isn’t one that Barça fans will necessarily remember very fondly because of the result, they’ll surely recall it for the incredible atmosphere.

Club legend, Johan Cruyff, had died just over a week previously, and this was the first chance for culés to honour his memory en masse, given that the Dutchman’s passing coincided with the international break.

A very special ‘Gràcies Johan’ mosaic decorated the Camp Nou, which included a mock-up of the No.14 blaugrana shirt he wore with such aplomb.

It was no real surprise to find out that the attendance of 99,264 was a record for this millennium*, but you could’ve heard a pin drop in moments beforehand as the entire stadium and both teams paid homage to a man who changed the footballing landscape forever.

Barça played the football on the night

The performance from the Catalans couldn’t be faulted either. With 68 percent possession and 685 passes compared to just 317 from Real Madrid, it was Barça that played all the football on that Saturday night.

A towering header from a corner by Gerard Piqué on 56 minutes looked like it might seal all three points for the hosts, however, Karim Benzema’s 62nd minute overhead kick equaliser and Cristiano Ronaldo’s 85th minute winner, saw Los Blancos get the bragging rights on this occasion.

*The all-time record attendance was set 31 years ago yesterday when an incredible 120,000 saw Barça and Real Madrid play out one of their rare 0-0 draws.