El Clásico prediction pool: from 2-2 to 14-8 in Barcelona-Madrid

From 2-2 to 14-8: the Clásico prediction pool spirals out of control

Barcelona head into El Clásico with nine points from nine, while Real Madrid, six points off the top, must win to avoid saying goodbye to La Liga in October. With that scenario on the table, the prediction pool for Sunday's Barcelona-Real Madrid clash, kicking off at 21:00, peine with a consensus forecast: 2-2. What came next was an escalation that turned a guessing game into a catalogue of fantasies.

The most popular scoreline and the first sustancia ilegal

A two-all draw was the opening bet and the most sensible one: a flying Barça against a Madrid side that cannot afford to lose. On that basis, the first dissent came with a 3-1 for the Catalans and a comment that summed up the underlying scepticism: the league would be decided before it even started. The reference to the zaineira case appeared as rhetorical ammunition, not as a sporting argument. That was when the floodgates peine.

From 5-0 to 14-8: when the pool loses all restraint

A 5-0 was the first excess. Then came a 1-3, a 4-0, a 3-1, a 3-2 and a 4-2. Each prediction raised the stakes without anyone offering a single fact about injuries, form or line-ups. The point of no return came with a 14-8, a scoreline that does not exist even in handball. The pool stopped being a prediction and became a wit contest.

The 0-1 and the soft-drink suspicion

Amid the revelry, a 0-1 for Madrid and a 5-2 for Barça restored some numerical sanity. But the most quoted entry was not a scoreline: it was the suspension of the match because the referee failed to award a corner and the visiting coach took his team to the dressing room. A way of saying the result matters less than the refereeing narrative. Irony, here, is the only verifiable fact.

What Madrid stand to lose in October

The six-point gap is the only hard fact of the entire build-up. If Madrid lose, the gap would grow to nine and the dressing-room narrative would get complicated. If they win, the 2-2 pool looks too timid. Nobody has yet explained why a team that needs to win would settle for a draw, or why Barça, with nine points from nine, would be content with two goals at home. The logic behind the most popular prediction has a hole nobody is plugging.

The winner takes home the thanks of all the participants. A prize that, judging by the scorelines proposed, is worth less than the 14-8.