Real Madrid's 3-2 win over Barcelona on Wednesday night wasn't short of thrills and spills.The Blaugrana fought back twice to push their rivals all the way to extra time in the Supercopa de España semi-finals, before Federico Valverde eventually bagged a winner on the counterattack.Both Vinicius Junior and Karim Benzema had given Real the lead in regulation time, but responses from Luuk de Jong and Ansu Fati ensured that we enjoyed a five-goal thriller in Saudi Arabia.
Impact of El Clasico
However, despite there being so many world-class stars on display at King Fahd International Stadium, we'd still put good money down that some fans were thinking back to older times.
What we mean to say is that El Clasico has undoubtedly lost 5-10% of its glitz and glamour due to the departures of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi over the last few years.
That's not to say that the game means any less to Barca and Real fans, far from it, but there's no denying that the absence of the Ballon d'Or winners has taken away from its star-studded status.
Ronaldo's presence still felt
However, it says everything about Ronaldo's influence on the legendary fixture, in particular, that his presence was still felt in the clash despite not having played with Real for almost four years now.
That's because footage has emerged from extra-time in Saudi Arabia where Ronaldo's famous 'Siu' celebration was doing the rounds after Valverde had notched his winning goal for Real.
Around the 102-minute mark, one Ronaldo-loving supporter could be seen leaping in the air and turning to land in a powerful position just as the Portuguese icon does when he finds the net.
'Siuuuu' heard in Real Madrid vs Barcelona
As confirmed by both ESPN and BT Sport, the fans' stairwell antics were matched by a remarkably loud declaration of 'Siu' despite the fact that little to nothing was actually happening on the pitch.
You know Ronaldo's influence is unmatched when he's got stadiums partaking in his celebration when he's not even playing and the only thing going on is Thibaut Courtois taking a goal-kick.
So, be sure to 'Siu' the celebrations for yourself by checking out the amusing stunt below:
Ronaldo's influence is unmatched
Ronaldo's 'Siu' celebration might be feeling more and more like a meme by the week, but this has to be one of the most remarkable instances that we've come across.
You know you've made a huge impact on one of sport's greatest ever teams when the sound of your celebration is still reverberating around games you're not playing in years down the line.
Tottenham 0-1 Chelsea Match Reaction (Football Terrace)
Well, either that or Saudi Arabian crowds are just particularly enamoured with the whole routine because Ronaldo really got a Jeddah crowd going in the 2019 Italian Super Cup to boot.
On that occasion, Ronaldo and the fans were in tandem with spine-tingling coordination, and no doubt the Manchester United star will have been chuffed to see them running it back again in 2022.
