What's Behind Today's Real Madrid vs Barcelona Rivalry? || History Of The El Classico || 2% To BD Charity

Real Madrid and Barcelona. The two biggest clubs in spain and also two of the biggest clubs in world football. Everyone knows about them, their achievements, glory and their rivalry. The El Classico is literally the most watched football match in the world. Only overwhelmed by the final of the world cup. But do we know what kicked of this world famous rivalry? Let's have a look.

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The Humble Beginnings

It was the early 1900s. And as usual as ever, the British were responsible for spreading the game to Spain. And it was about that time when the two clubs were formed. Here we must remember some political issues. Catalonia and Basque are two major strongholds of spain. But there is a problem. These two regions want to consider themselves as independent. And the exchange of words regarding their independence is always on the table. So Madrid being geographically the center of Spain and also the capital of Spain, and Barcelona being the city of the Catalonia, you might just be able to understand the weight of it.

To take it to the next level, the people who were at the helm of the Madrid FC (before madrid got coronated by the king) started a cup in the honor of the king. The Copa Della Coronacion. And in it's first edition, Madrid faced Barcelona in the semi finals. There Barcelona beat Madrid 3-1. And on reaching the final, Barca faced a club from Basque. Which was sort of a national team from Basque. Now for the organizing party this is sort of a let off. A club from Spain organizing a cup and finalists are from Catalonia and Basque? Not fair. They quickly threw in a consolation cup which was also the 3rd place cup of that competition, known as the Copa De Pena. Here Madrid beat another club from Catalonia, Espanyol.

This Rivalry Had Gone To The Next Level Very Soon_Source

Then soon Madrid was coronated by the then king of Spain and from then it is what we know today, Real Madrid. Barcelona were a very good side. They would go on to have a 13 match unbeaten run against Real Madrid starting from that Copa Della Coronacion semi final. Then Real Madrid got their turn and had a 14 match unbeaten run against Barcelona. The rivalry was mostly among the geopolitical and the footballing stuff. It was going good, the two clubs representing their people and their culture. But then the spanish civil war broke out.

What The Civil War Had To Do With It

The civil war is kind of irrelevant in today's story but not fully irrelevant. And yes the civil war didn't pour gasoline in the fire of rivalry between the two clubs. In fact the fans of both clubs (more commonly saying, all the people) fought as one against General Franco's troops. But it's the aftermath of the war which caused disturbance and inserted the political aspect into this already poised rivalry.

This has resemblance from the dictatorship of Portugal. Where General Salazar used SL Benfica as his footballing propaganda. And a way to portray his own image and the new and able Portugal. General Franco's idea was quite similar. The capital club Real Madrid was his propaganda tool. So obviously Real Madrid was favored by the General. But this doesn't mean Franco hated Barcelona of some sort. In fact he had good relations with the people of the boards, and he made the construction of Camp Nou a priority which was later realized.

Today Real Madrid vs Barcelona is The Most Famous Rivalry in World Football_Source

But the problem came in 1943. The Copa Generalisimo. Real Madrid vs Barcelona. In the first leg at Nou Camp Barca won 3-0. They were cruising. But as they reach Madrid they were met by political people, mostly men of Franco. The players received death threats and threats of their loved ones being kidnapped in they didn't lose this match. Real Madrid then went on to win the game 11-1. 11-4 on aggregate. Quite amusing. This made the rivalry ever so fierce. Legend says that Franco even has an influence in the transfer of Alfredo De Stefano, who was a Barcelona player, but is the face of Real Madrid today and Real Madrid's greatest ever player.

There were more stories along the way but these were most significant in paving the path of the rivalry today. Though everything is long forgotten today and the rivalry is just about football now, and with Messi and Ronaldo the rivalry has only been more entertaining.

So, this was my article about the history of el classico. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this post. Please let me know your thoughts & opinions about this rivalry in the comment section.

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