Ashes of two mythical tridents

In another time, LaLiga was the world image of football and its acronym was known by any fan in any corner of the planet. The MVP was born first, with Villa and Pedro accompanying Messi. Later, the two that have changed the beautiful sport in our borders and that have dominated in Europe with an iron fist appeared: the MSN and the BBC. A matter of protocol to remember the names, by all learned: Messi, Suárez, Neymar, Bale, Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo. To this day of what it was, there is hardly anything left.

And it is that the two tridents are already totally decomposed. Messi and Benzema, the survivors, have to find new partners to shine, but nothing is the same. Without Neymar and Cristiano, Spain has not reached a thousand goals per season in the domestic championship. Without the Portuguese, national football has not reached the Champions League final. A considerable contrast for what was a five-year period full of successes. Real Madrid won La Décima, Barcelona reigned in 2015 and Zidane sat on the bench to win three European Cups in a row. Cristiano's Chilean in Turin, the BBC's counterattack festival in Munich, the comeback against PSG … Unforgettable afternoons gestated from the football potential of his boots.

Now, football has changed. All the protagonists of the glorious era are veteran players, although all, in one way or another, remain at a high level. Would the BBC and MSN still have space in Real Madrid or Barcelona? A difficult question to answer, despite the fact that their numbers left their mark. Nowadays, European leaders are governed by enviable physical and tactical preparation. Most of its players, in addition to being technically privileged, do not exhaust themselves in the effort. At its peak, the tridents responded to that profile and his head-to-door numbers were far from doubt. Nowadays, Spanish football is having a hard time adapting to this international progression and they do not find in the market or quarry the talent of the protagonists already named. These weeks those chosen have definitely died. Messi and Benzema have to reinvent themselves. And to their clubs, even more.

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The numbers of two legendary trios

Five years lasted the BBC, from 2013 with the arrival of Bale until 2018 with the departure of Cristiano. With them, Madrid got 13 titles, among them four Champions, and signed seasons with dream goalscoring figures. Already with Mourinho, the whites exploited their offensive capacity to the maximum. With the signing of Gareth, he took hold. Madrid won 210 matches out of 293 possible (more than 70%) and added 784 goals, almost three per encounter. The high percentage of goals scored by the magic trident is even more striking: 56.37% or, what is the same, 442 in total.

Cristiano, of course, was the top gunner with 249 (69 assists). Benzema it follows with 105 (52a) and Bale closes the podium with 88 (49th). Far from simple numbers, there were moments in which they reached a degree of chemistry not seen too many times in the recent history of the club. Madrid had fun, won and imposed on the continent. Once undone, even its protagonists yearned for what it was. “You had a rocket, a scorer and then there was me, the piece to make it all work“, said Karim in an interview on RMC Sports. After Cristiano's departure, the 'BB' was trusted to take a step forward. Far from reality, Benzema did grow, but Bale stagnated. The club, in fact , He signed a season for oblivion in the 2018-19 campaign.

The MSN was shorter. For three years, Messi, Suárez and Neymar lived together in Barcelona (2014-2017). In their first year, they unleashed madness at the Camp Nou with Luis Enrique at the controls. They achieved the second triplet in history: League, Cup and Champions. Later, they would fall in Europe. What's more, to this day, Uruguayan and Brazilian have only won that Champions League. In terms of scorers, Barça swept them. Out of 181 games, 138 (76.2%) won, with 519 points scored !! Messi scored 153 (66a), the Uruguayan 121 (59a) and 'Ney' 90 (48a).

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Of the mentioned games they did not always play together or as starters. When they did, every other time they managed to mark all of them. The BBC did it 13 times and the MSN 22. Curious, since more than a hundred games lived together except the Blaugranas. And together, the six faced each other three times, all three in league competition. The balance favors Barcelona, ​​who won two Classics: 2-1 at the Camp Nou and 0-4 at the Bernabéu. Madrid only won in 2016, in the rival field, by two goals to one. Of course, they have faced dozens of occasions with a pair of the starting trident.

Neymar was the first to leave

The first 'black sheep' was Neymar. It began as a rumor, followed with a 'stays' and closed as the most expensive signing in the history of football: 222 million euros. Three seasons later (this is the fourth in Paris), the Brazilian has felt cold. He has been unable to win the Champions League without the support of Messi and company, although Mbappé and Di María almost crowned him against Bayern. On an individual level, he is still brilliant, he was even well positioned to win the suspended Ballon d'Or. But he was missing something and he stood up, determined to want to go home. The sheik was impassive and Barça did not have enough cash to undertake an operation of such caliber. The hope culé to recover the MSN vanished in a matter of weeks.

Cristiano and the applause that changed everything

Madrid still remembers that '7' that they celebrated almost daily and often in pairs or with another ball on their shelf. Cristiano begins his third season in Turin, while in the capital of Spain they are still looking for the lost goal. Benzema has taken a step forward, but the Whites have lost twice in the second round of the Champions League, something that only happened in CR's first campaign back in 2010. The Portuguese started the runrún of his departure earlier, but perhaps the standing ovation from Juventus Stadium after his brilliant Chilean goal was the click he needed to fire the team of his life. After months of broken relationship, Ronaldo returned to the Bernabéu to celebrate the victory against Barça, in a box and before the warmth of its people.

Suárez and Bale, two difficult outings

Although the departure of Neymar and Cristiano was not without controversy, the goodbye of Suárez and Bale is not far behind. Finally, the Uruguayan heads to Atlético de Madrid, as Villa did in his day. The '9' has agreed with Barça his goodbye, by being part of the club's reconstruction plan to avoid more debacles such as Liverpool 4-0 or Bayern Munich 8-2. The Uruguayan is accused of not having sufficient physical background to be able to reign on the continent and his astronomical salary was an obstacle to his continuity. He first tried to sign for Juve, but the bureaucracy to obtain the Italian passport ruined the operation. Finally, Atlético and Barça have reached an agreement. Bartomeu spoke of firing “legends” as they deserved and Suárez has made numbers of such recognition. The press conference, however, was somewhat cold, due to the setbacks experienced in the most recent dates.

Bale's case is even more drastic. The Welshman has scored historic goals such as the race against Bartra, 2-1 in the Decima or the double in Kiev. But he has lived two seasons without prominence on the pitch and involved in controversy. Last season there was already talk of his departure, with rumors such as his sale to Chinese football. He advocated staying, with a salary high enough that not just any club can afford it.. Images like “Wales. Golf. Madrid. In that order“They have prevented the farewell from being the dreamed. Tottenham appeared this summer to return to the '11' the illusion of success. In a stadium, also, where he lived the best stages of his sports career. He arrives injured for a month, although Mourinho already has between eyebrow and eyebrow to get his best version.