It is not a secret how Real Madrid vs. Barcelona is one of the biggest rivalry in world football. The historical tension between the two teams with certain General Franco as the lead artist is well known. Then there was the Alfredo De Stefano’s transfer saga, which further fueled the El Clasico rivalry.
Real Madrid and Barcelona combined have won 54 Spanish top flight titles and the numbers will keep growing in coming seasons. Add to that, the constant battle between the two teams to sign all the best players in the world is fascinating.
Despite their rivalry being so old and public, there are few things which you might not be aware of. To cover that, e have put together a list of five things you didn’t know about the El Clasico rivalry, take a look:
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They share almost same number of victories
Barcelona have been the dominant force in recent times thanks to a certain magician named Lionel Messi, however, the overall stat for number of wins is very close, actually closer than you think.
Including La Liga and Copa De Rays games, Real Madrid hold the edge with 92 wins as compared to Barcelona’s 90. The stat is valid till March 11, 2016.
2. El Clasico was not played between 1937 and 1939
General Franco thought it was a great idea to conquer Barcelona’s President Josep Sunyol and sent his troops to take out his counterpart. Madrid and Barcelona are two of Spain’s most popular cities but share different political beliefs. That has led to several encounters over the years, but the most vile one came in 1937 in form of Spanish Civil War.
From 1937 to 1939, El Clasico was not contested, only for it to be resumed on 28 Jan 1940 in Madrid under very hostile atmosphere.
3. Real Madrid were just Madrid FC for over 3 years
If you have seen the Real Madrid logo closely, it has a crown on top of it. The reason why it is there, is because of favoritism from then King Alfonso XIII. The word Real means Royal in Spanish and that is why the club is called Real Madrid and has a crown on top of their logo.
However, during the Spanish Civil War, crown from the logo and the word REAL was dropped from Real Madrid’s existence. The club was simply called Madrid FC, however, it did not stand for long and the crown and word Real re-emerged in 1941.
4. Real Madrid players hit with stones in Barcelona
Before La Liga’s El Clasico rivalry began, the two teams first met in 1916 Copa Del Ray competition, which Los Blancos won 2-1 courtesy a clear offside goal. Officials failing to judge the offside provoked anger among Barcelona fans which ended with Madrid players being hit with stones.
5. El Clasico could get wiped out in coming years
Catalan’s continuous urge for freedom from Spain has threatened to take the famous Madrid-Barcelona off the footballing map. Foreseeing the possibilities, Spanish FA have made it clear that under the current regulations, Barcelona will not allowed to compete in La Liga if they become a free country. Whether that will happen in coming years or not, honestly, we don’t even want to know.
Image Credit: Getty