Today in History: Ronaldinho Receives Standing Ovation for Masterclass Display vs Real Madrid

• Ronaldinho was unplayable when Real Madrid hosted Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu 17 years ago
• Barcelona were victorious on the night thanks to two outstanding goals from Ronaldindo and a Samuel Eto'o strike
• Ronaldinho received a standing ovation from fans of Real Madrid following his superlative performance

On November 19, 2005, Brazilian-born magician Ronaldinho single-handedly destroyed Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu and got a standing ovation from the Madrid crowd.

The Los Blancos were sitting on top of the La Liga table going into the duel, one point ahead of the Catalans, and were looking to widen the gap.

However, Ronaldinho was on top of his game, forcing thousands of Real Madrid fans to applaud the 25-year-old's marvelous efforts that night.

Samuel Eto'o opened the scoring just after 15 minutes for Frank Rijkaard's side. And Ronaldinho scored two mesmerising goals as Barcelona romped to a 3-0 victory over their biggest rivals.

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The Ballon d'Or winner netted his first goal on the night after receiving the ball on the left wing, beat Sergio Ramos, took care of Ivan Helguera with a fake shot and then scored.

19 minutes later, he tried the same exact thing and the ball ended in the exact same place — in Iker Casillas' net.

Amazed with the performance, the Santiago Bernabeu stood up to applaud the genius.

Ronaldinho later revealed in an interview, cited by SportBIBLE, that he didn't even realise he was being applauded by the Real Madrid fans.

"No, I didn't realise in the moment." he said. "I remembered when we arrived to the locker room and everybody was talking about it and I went to check it on the TV.

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"Because of the joy of scoring and the celebration, I didn't notice the standing ovation. It's special. Only a few players have had this joy of being acclaimed by the fans of your arch rivals in a derby."

Ronaldo De Lima Clasico's Prediction

Sports Brief earlier reported that legendary Brazil striker Ronaldo de Lima has predicted the outcome of the pivotal El Clasico this weekend.

Real Madrid will host Barcelona at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu Stadium on Sunday, October 16 in the first leg of the biggest game in Spain.

Both La Liga giants come into the blockbuster clash with a draw in their respective midweek Champions League group stage matches.