First El Clasico without Messi and Ronaldo: stadium income down by 60%

Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi were the biggest duo that represented the face of any rivalry in football and their departure will certainly tell on the income of the match going forward, they are global superstars that made things happen, without them revenue dropped.

Cristiano Ronaldo left Real Madrid in 2018 and only Lionel Messi remained as the face of the El Clasico for three years until his departure two months ago. Ronaldo's departure told on Messi as he failed to score after his departure.

The Clasico this year had Karim Benzema as the only real and global superstar but it was not enough to convince people to watch both in the stadium, on TV and across streaming platforms. Understandable, there was no motivation to see a match to be played by emerging superstars.

Today's match had stadium revenue down by 40% because only about 60% of the stadium was occupied due to coronavirus regulations, but much of it was because of the absence of the two superstars. The match ended 2-1 in favour of Real Madrid.