Beckham makes history in Barcelona

Barcelona 1 Real Madrid

The vitriol was expected. How it was delivered was the question David Beckham will have pondered ahead of his first visit to Barcelona's Nou Camp as a Real Madrid player last night. He didn't have long to wait. Half an hour before kick-off as Beckham jogged on to the field of Europe's biggest stadium, a banner was unfurled. The message was simple: "Beckham is a wanker." And that was from the posh seats.

Joan Laporta, Barça's youthful president, had taken measures to defuse the tension following problems at the equivalent fixture last season. Fences were erected behind both goals and warnings for good behaviour issued. Not that the most likely protagonists were around to launch another suckling's head or bottle of whiskey in the direction of a Madrid player. Barca's hooligans have largely boycotted games this season in protest at Laporta's actions in cleaning up the bile.

Some will question Laporta's wisdom. With talented but underperforming squads in recent seasons, the hostility has arguably been Barça's most efficient weapon in stalling Madrid. Such was the abuse thatLuis Figo, who switched sides in 2000, was unable to function. Figo is still cast as the eternal traitor, his every touch met by the trill of 98,000 Catalan whistles.

Despite Madrid not having won a league game in the Nou Camp since 1983, they quickly justified their position as favourites. Barça, in ninth position to Madrid's first, were without their key playmaker Ronaldinho and were ripe for defeat.

There will have been little surprise that Beckham was involved in the 36th minute goal that gave Madrid the lead. The England captain's sumptuous crossfield pass found Zinedine Zidane on the edge of the area. The Frenchman set up Roberto Carlos to strike a deflected shot past Victor Valdes. The silence was barely punctuated by the 300 travelling fans in the nosebleed seats.

The Madrid captain Raul should have scored when Beckham provided a neat cross from the left. The most popular man in Spain (Raul not Beckham) fluffed the finish. Madrid would attack again. And Beckham would help defend. Marc Overmars is symptomatic of Barça's depressed fortunes since they last won the league in 1999. Bought to replace Figo, Barca's record signing is not even a regular starter. Introduced at half-time to add penetration to a side with just one recognised forward, Overmars did at least test Iker Casillas with a 62nd- minute effort.

A rasping Kluivert shot two minutes later showed that Barça still had fight, but Madrid's second, in the 74th minute, killed the game. Roberto Carlos was again involved when he found himself in space on the left. He had time to feed Ronaldo and La Liga's top scorer seldom misses such opportunities. Kluivert headed a goal in the 82nd minute, but an equaliser would have been an injustice.

The Barça-Madrid rivalry has always run deep. The clubs represent two languages, two peoples and, in the view of many Catalans, two countries. And each of those countries invest enormous national pride and vast sums in their flagship clubs. Which is why El Derbi remains, whatever the relative positions of the two sides, probably the most emotionally charged yet glamorous domestic fixture in the world.

Barcelona 1
Kluivert 82

Real Madrid 2
Roberto Carlos 37, Ronaldo 74

Half-time: 0-1 Attendance: 98,000