The El Clasico is the Spanish word which means The Classic. This name is given to battle between 2 top Spanish clubs Real Madrid & Barcelona. Here you will find the history behind this competition. Real Madrid and Barcelona are also 2 largest cities of Spain. This name is selected due growing craze among these two professional football clubs. Both of these plays for Spanish League La Liga & still plays for it. Their first meet was held in 13^th May 1902 which was competition of Copa de la Coronacion, that was won by Barca by 3-1.

Except UEFA Champions League, this is the most watched competition in football sport. These are not at top positions in game but in terms of value also. RMA is the world’s richest football club admitted by Forbes. Forbes placed this club in top spot this year. In official matches, The Vikings won 90 matches & The Catalans won 86. But in competition of winning titles, The Catalans won 81, whereas Marca won 76 trophies. This rivalry is the world biggest clash in football all over the world.

History of The Classic

In 1930, a reputation of symbol of Catalan Pride was developed by Barcelona which was opposed to Real Madrid. Fransisco Franco, who was arrested & executed without any trial by troops of Franco. After communists, independentists & anarchists, Barca was at top in organization’s list. During the period of dictatorship of Franco, people were against regime. The author of Morbo: Phill Ball, calls El Clasico which was called as a re enactment of Spanish Civil War. An American author Robert Coover describe FC Barcelona & Real club Deportivo Espanyol as more like a reenactment of Spanish civil was than athletic event. During the dictatorship if Fransisco Franco & Miguel Primo de Rivera, all identities as well as languages were frowned upon & restrained. During this time, The Blaugrana got motto which was “More than a club.” The relations between senior RMA legislative body & Francoist were incontestable. Some Catalans called RMA as the establishment club. Further, both club’s reputation was again affected by birth of Ultras groups. This was formed in 1980 as far right learning followed in 1981. The craze of this rivalry continued to increase time to time. Some players of club transferred to other club. Like Bernd Schuster who played for Barcelona moved to RMA in 1988. Luis Enrique moved from RMA to FCB in 1996 as a captain. He was also the manager of his new team in years of 2008-09, 2009-10 & 2010-11.

Which is the most following & popular?

A survey which was Centro de Incestigaciones Sociologicas was held in 2007. At that time, The Vikings had largest number of followers with 32%. In second place, The Blaugrana voted with 25% followed by Valencia with 5% of votes. But in competition of most popular team, Barcelona won this battle. They got 44% votes followed by RMA with 37%. Atletico Madrid, Real Betis, Valencia & Athletic Bilbao were among the top 5 list. One more survey was conducted in 2010 by German research market called Sport + Market. It unveiled that FCB has 57.8million fans, whereas RMA has 31.3million fans in Europe. Cristiano Ronaldo is the only player in this tournament who scored in 6 back to back matches against FCB. His scored his first goal in this series in first leg of 2011-12 Copa del Rey & last in 2012-13 in La Liga. This is not battle between top 2 clubs but also between top 2 football players. World’s number 1 rivalry which is Lionel Messi Vs Cristiano Ronaldo is the most following clash in football. Both are the top professional players & they are the one which La Liga is getting huge fame.

All time Head to head match results

• Barcelona wins: 86
• Real Madrid Wins: 90
• RMA Goals: 378
• FCB Goals: 361

Awards statistics of both teams