5-0

So Barcelona played Real Madrid yet again in the never-ending rivalry that has JC locked in it's grip. I have to say I never heard of or cared about these teams before I married him, but now I am intensely interested in how things play out whenever these two teams play, because the result affects Juan Carlos' mood for days. There was a huge amount of hype on all the Spanish networks, so there was no way this game was not going to be big.
Juan Carlos is a Barcelona fan. Now, he is not a fan like myself. For example, if in college BYU lost a game and the University of Utah, their arch-rivals, won and went to a bowl game or a championship, I would root for Utah, of course, because they were the next closest thing to home. Real Madrid is the arch rival of Barcelona and JC hates them. Hates them with a capital H. It doesn't matter who is playing them, he wants them to be beaten. Even if they make it to the end of the Champions League and the other team is Italian or German or whatever, he will root for another country rather than root for Real Madrid. And the feeling for Real Madrid fans is mutual, they hate Barcelona with a passion and like nothing better than to see them go down.
I do not understand this, but over the years I have come to accept that Juan Carlos just needs Real Madrid to lose. I have even become a Real Madrid hater myself, but most of this has to do with the fact that I dislike some of their players, and that they just can't seem to help acting like jerks.
Real Madrid came into this game undefeated this season, and Barcelona had lost one. This was going to be the year that Real Madrid took Barcelona down.

It didn't happen that way. I have watched a lot of Barcelona games, but this one was completely beautiful, from start to finish. Barcelona won this one 5-0 and sent a very clear message to Real Madrid--they were not giving up that top spot in the standings.

Juan Carlos is the happiest I have ever seen him, apart from when Spain won the World Cup. We watched replays for a week afterwards. But I feel like I have done my wifely duty, because I have watched this Barcelona/Real Madrid game five times. Yes, five times, one for each goal. And while it's not what I would choose  to watch, I have gained an appreciation for the skill and athleticism of soccer players. Seriously. Beautiful. I really love most of the Barcelona players and they played amazingly well.



http://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/photos?slug=834097fabfb06700d7ababaab4bbe07d-getty-fbl-esp-liga-fc_barcelona-real_madrid-clasico&search=barcelona

 If you feel like watching first class soccer, they have been replaying it for two days on the Spanish affiliate on ESPN, or you can watch the highlights here.

Whether or not you like soccer or you are just a supportive spouse, this was one for the record books, and pretty much means I will have a happy Juan Carlos for some time.