The world is watching: Clasico attracts a global audience of 400 million

Sunday evening's Primera Division
encounter will be shown live in
more than 30 countries, with well
over 600 journalists attending the
clash between the two historic
rivals

With Olympique de Marseille hosting
Paris Saint-Germain in Ligue 1 and AC
Milan taking on arch-rivals Inter in
Italy, Sunday promises to be a great
day of football. However, it is the Liga
encounter between Barcelona and
Real Madrid at Camp Nou that is
arguably the pick of the weekend.

The Spanish giants have met a
number of times over the past few
seasons and each and every
encounter offered plenty of spectacle.
From superb pieces of individual skill
to touchline brawls, from stunning
goals to flying tackles – El Clasico
generally has it all.
Madrid coach Jose Mourinho was
quick to point out the importance of
the game when asked about his side's
rivalry with Barcelona earlier this
month.
"When Madrid plays Barcelona, the
world stops," commented the
outspoken Portuguese. "It is a game
we love to play and it is not just us
but surely for them also. In this sense,
it is definitely more than a normal
league match."
Meanwhile, his Barca colleague, Tito
Vilanova, feels that the Clasico is a
game like any other and is mainly
focused on what the match could
mean for his side's title ambitions.
"We are just playing a football game
which will determine if we are five,
eight or 11 points ahead of Madrid,"
he stated.
There's no denying that there's
something special about the games
between Barcelona and Real Madrid,
though, which is perfectly illustrated
by the impressive media attention for
the meeting.
The game will broadcast live to more
than 30 European, Asian, North
America, South American, Central
American and African countries, while
680 accredited journalists,
photographers, commentators,
camera people and technicians -
representing 139 outlets from 28
countries - will cover the Clasico this
Sunday.
Mediapro, the company in charge of
production and distribution of the TV
signal for Sunday's Clasico, will be
providing 300 professionals to cover
the match, with eight mobile units,
including a 3D team and 34 cameras,
one of which is a Super Slow Motion
camera, inside the ground.
The aforementioned 680 press
representatives hail from Spain,
Denmark, Mexico, United Kingdom,
Poland, Argentina, France, Russia,
Brazil, Germany, Hungary, Colombia,
Italy, Croatia, Burkina Faso, The
Netherlands, Serbia, Algeria, Belgium,
Greece, Japan, Switzerland, Qatar,
Norway and United States of America.
Mediapro estimates that the game will
attract a worldwide audience of 400
million, with the meeting between
Barca and Madrid being shown live in
more than 30 countries on well-
known channels such as Sky Sports, Al
Jazeera Sports and ESPN.
More than 20 TV companies from all
over the world have applied to
personalise the production, which is a
new record, and in total 30
international TV stations will be
showing the match.
The game will be broadcast across the
globe in Europe, Asia, North America,
South America, Central America and
Africa; from China to the USA, in
Japan, Korea, Thailand, Mexico and
many more countries.
Fans around the globe will thus be
assured that they will not miss a single
moment when the eternal rivals lock
horns for the third time this season.
It's now up to the players to live up to
the high expectations and once more
put on another breathtaking show.