“I can never forget my first El Clasico as there was an attack on our team bus,” said France’s World Cup- and European Championship-winning midfielder Christian Karembeu, on his maiden experience of club football’s biggest rivalry.

The former Real Madrid, Middlesbrough and Olympiacos midfielder faced many a high voltage clash during his playing days, which included helping France lift their maiden World Cup title on home soil in 1998.

The mystique, animosity and the bragging rights surrounding a Real-Barca game, though, was something that the 46-year-old struggled to put in words.

“’El Clasico’ is the greatest game of La Liga,” Karembeu told Scroll.in. “There are other contests that are equally entertaining, but when we have the top teams face off, you know that everybody is watching. It is cultural as well as political. Through the week, people are talking about the it and the intensity is surreal on the pitch.”

As for the attack in 1997, which broke the windshield of the Madrid bus, Karembeu revealed that the manner in which he panicked at the time went on to be a huge source of amusement for his teammates.

“I was concentrating on my game because it was my first taste [of the El Clasico],” he said. “My teammates were already prepared for a situation of that magnitude. They were in splits after looking at my reaction,” he added.

The intimidating cauldron of Camp Nou also stumped the Frenchman. “I just wanted to play a game,” he said. “In every other country, you had one end where you had away fans but when I entered Camp Nou, you only had Catalans. It was the same at Madrid too.”

Florentino Perez’s vision

Despite having plied his trade in five different countries and representing six clubs, Karembeu’s attachment to Los Blancos is palpable. Subconsciously, he breaks into “we” while talking about the 11-time European champions at every instance.

Karembeu credited president Florentino Perez for his now famous Galacticos module, which was to create a unique spectacle of assembling the finest talents in the world play for the same team: “The training facilities were initially inside the city, but there was an overhaul of sorts when he came back [in 2009]. Perez had a vision and attracted some of the biggest players.”

With that vision, Madrid recruited their now all-time top goalscorer Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Karim Benzema and Xabi Alonso among others. Perez had executed a similar transfer strategy at the start of the decade too, roping in current coach Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo, Luis Ronaldo and David Beckham.

However, Madrid had a lean spell in the continent for a little more than a decade. Their anxious wait for an unprecedented 10th Champions League crown, or La Decima, lasted an agonising 12 years.

Karembau said that this lean phase was because of a lack of stability in the hierarchy. “I am proud to be a part of the Madrid team that won the Champions League after 32 years [against Juventus in 1998]. Many things changed after I left – presidents, players, coaches.”

‘Zidane’s success as coach is not surprising’

Karembeu (centre) celebrates with Zidane (left) in the 1998 World Cup final

There were plenty who believed that Zidane’s elevation to the Bernabeau hot seat would go on to be a stop-gap arrangement after manager Rafael Benitez’s sacking in late 2015.

The three-time Ballon d’Or winner has slayed his naysayers in style, already taking Real to a Champions League win last year. Despite his side’s loss to their arch-rivals over the weekend, Madrid are frontrunners to win the Spanish La Liga after a five-year gap. “I am not surprised [at Zidane’s success],” said Karembeu. “I have always supported him as a friend.”

The gangly midfielder pointed out that Zidane’s step-by-step ascension is what proved to be the foundation for a successful tenure. “He already knew the everyday environment during his time as a player. He got his football badges and worked his way up the ranks by being an advisor to Perez while also working with Jose Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti as an assistant and managing the Cantera [Madrid’s youth academy]. He has his own aura too when he manages the players. The players respect him.”

As for handling bloated egos, the two-time Champions League winner pinned it down to Zidane drawing from his own experiences sharing the dressing room with big personalities. “Zizou was surrounded by many characters like Figo, Ronaldo and Beckham,” said Karembeu. “He already knew handle big egos, where to push them and where to take a step back,” he added, while crediting the “tactical, technique and mental education” of the players of his generation for going on to become successful coaches.

I Stand by Wenger

Karembeu briefly worked with Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger in identifying young talent. With a poisonous atmosphere engulfing the North London club, a section of their fans have been calling for the 67-year-old’s head.

Karembeu understands the frustration of the Gunners faithful but lauded his “good friend” – who once tried to recruit him – for the all-round stability that he has brought over the last 21 years. “It’s easy to boo him. It looks like Arsenal may miss out on Champions League football next season. Despite moving to a new stadium he made the club stable. He is a real manager. There is a difference between sports success and administrative success, but Wenger has balanced that. I can understand the frustration of the Arsenal fans for the lack of trophies.”

Karembeu opined that good times may just be around the corner with a third FA Cup win in four years when they meet Chelsea in the summit event.

India’s football environment needs to change

Karembeu also mentioned that he follows Indian football, hailing skipper Gurinder Sandhu as a “talented” goalkeeper. Despite the three-season-old Indian Super League bringing to the country some fine yesteryear greats, Karembeu thinks the country has a long way to go but mapped out a process.

“It’s difficult to talk about football here,” he said. “If I have to talk numbers, it’s 99% cricket and 1% football. [The] football environment needs to change. The private investors and the federation need to come together and create a market, step by step; develop sports management and facilities.”

Unlike many, Karembeu thinks that having two major domestic leagues (ISL and I-League) will help the country breed a bigger talent pool. “Having two championships is a healthy prospect because there are more numbers [in terms of players],” Karembeu said.

Christian Karembeu was in India as one of the guests on behalf of broadcasters Sony SIX and Ten Sports for the ‘El Clasico’ tie.