El Clasico is one of largest rivalry in the world. EL Clasico means 'The Classic'. When Real Madrid CF and FC Barcelona play with each other, the match is worth watching and this match is known as EL Clasico. This is the second most watched event of the year after UEFA Champions League Finals. Both Of them are rivalry also because they represent Barcelona and Madrid, two big cities of the Spain. Real Madrid supports Spain Nationalism where Barcelona promotes Catalonia Nationalism.
When did it start?
In the 1943 Copa del Generalisima semifinals, when Barcelona defeated Real Madrid by 3-0 at their home ground, the players of Real Madrid believed thar referee Fombona Fernandez had done partiality with their team, while home supporters also did whistling etc. has distracted their attention. The Madrid Association then refused Barcelona's supporters to come to their home ground. Barcelona's bus was also stoned during the second leg and according to Barcelona player Mariano Gonzalvo, their goal post was filled with coins just five minutes before the match began. Madrid supporters also raised slogans against Barcelona. This pressure resulted in Real Madrid taking a 2-0 lead in just 30 minutes.
When the Barcelona player was given a red card, the enthusiasm of the Real Madrid players doubled. After this, goals were scored in 31st, 33rd, 35th, 39th, 43rd minutes and when the match was over, the score was 11-0. It was considered to be Real Madrid's biggest win. After this, in year 1950, Alfredo Di Stefano was very much liked by the Real Madrid and Barcelona and both of them bowed down to sign him. FIFA also came in after a lot of contravention and asked the player to share every season. As a result, the Barcelona president resigned and the board also cancelled Alfredo Di Stefano's contract. Di Stefano later became the player of Real Madrid. He scored two goals when he played the first match against Barcelona. Di Stefano went on to win five consecutive European Championship Cups to Real Madrid. The hostility of the two also increased with time.
Portugal international Luis Figo, who was player of FC Barcelona at the time has also played his part in the rivalry of Real Madrid CF and FC Barcelona. During a presidential election at Real Madrid in 2000, his candidate offered Barcelona player Luis Figo. He said that if he won the election, he would offer Luis $2.6 million and if he broke the contract, he would give Real Madrid of $30 million. Figo refused everything when his agent confirmed the deal. The then president of Barcelona spoke to Figo on July 23, in which he told what happened to Figo that Figo wants to be more rich and another he wants to stay in Barcelona. The very next day Figo was presented in Real Madrid CF and none other than Alfredo Di Stefano, who gave him jersey of Madrid, after which the president of Barcelona said that Figo's move had destroyed us. After a few months, when Figo came to play Barcelona for Madrid, he was thrown fake notes, orange juice bottles, coins and strange things which can upset Figo.
Over time, the hostility of two also increased. while Barcelona put forward players like Lionel Messi and Xavi, Real Madrid spent money to sign players like Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka. The battle moves from Human to Super Human as Messi and Ronaldo were added to EL Clasico and compare to each other. Over time. FC Barcelona signed strong names like Neymar and Suarez while Real Madrid CF also signed the players like Benzema and Gareth Bale. Today, even though Ronaldo and Neymar are playing with the other team, this rivalry still alive and will continue to run.
Statistics:
Lionel Messi is the highest scorer in EL Clasico's history with 26 goals and Cristiano Ronaldo is at third position with 14 goals. Sergio Ramos has most appearances with 44 in this rivalry. Talking about the trophies, FC Barcelona has 95 trophies while Real Madrid CF has 91 trophies. There have been a total of 277 matches between these two which include Exhibition + Competitive matches. Barcelona also won here and they are still at the top of the list with 115 wins.
Despite the rivalry, the fans also admire football and whatever they like the game of the other team players give them a standing ovation. In the Copa del Rey Finals of 1973, Diego Maradona was greatly admired by the fans of Madrid.
In 2005, Ronaldinho became the second Barcelona player to be praised by Madrid supporters and in 2015, Andres Iniesta was also praised by Madrid supporters. Although he has also won the World Cup to the Spain but Andres Iniesta has a different identity in the whole world.
All these things together create an environment in which a strong rivalry is seen along with football game.
