El Clasico Dreams Deferred: When Stars Sit Benched in the Biggest Derby

El Clasico Dreams Deferred

There isn’t much time left before this season’s Clasico between Real Madrid and Barcelona, set for October 26 in La Liga.

Leading up to the clásico, Madrid will face Getafe in the ninth round, while Barca will host Girona.

Among the players expected to feature in the Clasico for the first time are Real Madrid prospects such as Dino Huisen, Álvaro Carreras, and Franco Mastantuono.

On the other side, Marcus Rashford was tipped for a Clasico appearance, while Spanish goalkeeper Juan Garcia will miss the big match due to injury.

Many stars have dreamed of a move to Real Madrid or Barca to feel the intensity of the rivalry and experience the unique Clasico atmosphere.

Some players have announced themselves to the world with standout Clasico performances, while others endured the experience with a heavy heart, thanks to limited minutes and fluctuating trust from coaches.

The following pages recount players who passed through the Clasico but never managed to leave a lasting imprint, not always convincing their coaches to rely on them as regulars.

Alexander Hleb

The summer of 2008 saw Belarusian Alexander Hleb move from Arsenal to Barcelona for 17 million euros (plus incentives).

He only featured in one season with Barca before being loaned out to Stuttgart and Birmingham City, despite arriving hailed as a potential star for Camp Nou.

In his first Clasico, Hleb played just 3 minutes; he was left out of the second match, which Barca won 6-2 in his absence, and he eventually left the club with a total of a few minutes against Real Madrid on his record.

Zlatan Ibrahimović

The Swedish striker’s arrival at Barcelona in 2009 generated huge hype, with the club sacrificing Cameroon-born Samuel Eto’o for him.

Yet Ibrahimović failed to win Guardiola’s trust as a regular starter against Real Madrid during his single season at Camp Nou.

He did feature in one Clasico as a Barcelona substitute for 39 minutes, scoring the winning goal (1-0).

In the next Clasico, he was not in Barca’s squad, leaving him with only a solitary appearance in his Barcelona spell.

Ricardo Kaká

Despite joining Real Madrid in 2009 and staying for four years, Kaká failed to make a mark in Clasicos, appearing only seven times.

Meanwhile, the Brazilian star missed 12 Clasico matches due to being left out or benched, including seven Clasicos he did not feature in.

Luka Jović

In the summer of 2019, striker Luka Jović joined the club for 60 million euros, with high hopes.

Over a season and a half, he failed to establish himself and missed every Clasico the club played during that period.

He appeared on the bench in four Clasicos and did not feature in any of them, while he was dropped from the squad on two occasions.

Eden Hazard

The Madrid side signed Eden Hazard in 2019 when he was considered one of the world’s best players, donning the number 7 shirt.

Four years later, Hazard did not quite deliver the magic expected, and none of the coaches trusted him to play in a Clasico against Barca—even for a minute.

Throughout those years, injuries kept him out of some matches, but there were also games where he sat on the bench for entire Clasicos, totaling 12 misses during his Madrid stint.

And so the Clasico continues to be a stage where even the brightest names must earn their moment, not merely wait for a matchday invitation.

Punchline 1: If bench-warming were an Olympic sport, these players would have more gold than Madrid’s talismanic forwards—and far fewer headaches about starting XI politics.

Punchline 2: In football, the bench is a black hole where dreams go to stretch their legs—and occasionally, to haunt the dreamers’ highlight reels.