What if: Neymar signed for Real Madrid and Gareth Bale signed for Barcelona

It's finally the week leading up to the El Clasico and the footballing fraternity is gearing up for the biggest game in club football. Luis Enrique’s Barcelona will welcome league leaders Real Madrid, coached by French legend Zinedine Zidane who will be hoping to extend the lead on top of the table. 

In this week’s ‘What If’ we look at the possible scenario in world football today if Neymar had actually signed for Real Madrid and Gareth Bale moved to Barcelona. 

It is no secret that Real Madrid had been chasing Neymar for years before he signed for their arch-rivals Barcelona. However, Neymar signed for Barcelona and they went on to sign Gareth Bale for a world-record fee. However, Barcelona had also been interested in Gareth Bale since 2009 when the young Welshman started making strides in the Premier League. 

While Gareth Bale was flattered by this interest, Barcelona never made a formal approach to sign Bale and he moved to Real Madrid a few years later. Here is how today’s football scenario would be if Bale moved to Barcelona and Neymar to Madrid. 

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#1 La Decima could have been delayed 

Gareth Bale celebrates his winner in the Final

While there is no doubting Real Madrid’s calibre without Gareth Bale, the Welshman had a stunning first season with the Los Blancos and scored the winner in the Champions League final in Lisbon. His impact on the Real Madrid side was vital in their double that season under Carlo Ancelotti. 

Had Real Madrid signed Neymar, things probably wouldn’t have gone the same way. While Neymar has progressed to become one of the best players in the world in the last couple of years, his first season at Barcelona was well below par. Neymar had taken a whole season to adjust to Spanish football and it would have been a similar story if he was to wear the whites of Real Madrid.