RIVALRIES

Hello ladies and gents this is the viking telling you that today we are talking about

EL CLASICO

El Clásico (Spanish pronunciation: [el ˈklasiko]; Catalan: El Clàssic, ; "The Classic") is the name given in football to any match between fierce rivals Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. Originally it referred only to those competitions held in the Spanish championship, but nowadays the term has been generalized, and tends to include every single match between the two clubs: UEFA Champions League, Copa del Rey, etc. Other than the UEFA Champions League Final, it is considered one of the biggest club football games in the world, and is among the most viewed annual sporting events. A fixture known for its intensity, it has featured memorable goal celebrations from both teams, often involving mocking the opposition.

The rivalry comes about as Madrid and Barcelona are the two largest cities in Spain, and they are sometimes identified with opposing political positions, with Real Madrid viewed as representing Spanish nationalism and Barcelona viewed as representing Catalan nationalism. The rivalry is regarded as one of the biggest in world sport. The two clubs are among the richest and most successful football clubs in the world; in 2014 Forbes ranked Barcelona and Real Madrid the world's two most valuable sports teams. Both clubs have a global fanbase; they are the world's two most followed sports teams on social media.

Barcelona leads the head-to-head results in competitive matches with 96 wins to Real Madrid's 95; Barcelona also leads in total matches with 115 wins to Real Madrid's 99 as of match played on 2 March 2019. Along with Athletic Bilbao, they are the only clubs in La Liga to have never been relegated.

History

The conflict between Real Madrid and Barcelona has long surpassed the sporting dimension, so that elections to the clubs' presidencies are strongly politicized. Phil Ball, the author of Morbo: The Story of Spanish Football, says about the match; "they hate each other with an intensity that can truly shock the outsider".

As early as the 1930s, Barcelona "had developed a reputation as a symbol of Catalan identity, opposed to the centralising tendencies of Madrid". In 1936, when Francisco Franco started the Coup d'état against the democratic Second Spanish Republic, the president of Barcelona, Josep Sunyol, member of the Republican Left of Catalonia and Deputy to The Cortes, was arrested and executed without trial by Franco's troops

Barcelona was on top of the list of organizations to be purged by the National faction, just after communists, anarchists, and independentists. During the Franco dictatorship, most citizens of Barcelona were in strong opposition to the fascist-like régime. During the dictatorships of Miguel Primo de Rivera and of Francisco Franco, all regional languages and identities in Spain were frowned upon and restrained. In this period, Barcelona gained their motto Més que un club (English: More than a club) because of its alleged connection to Catalan nationalist as well as to progressive beliefs.

 During Franco's regime, however, Barcelona was granted profit due to its good relationship with the dictator at management level, even giving two awards to him. The links between senior Real Madrid representatives and the Francoist regime were undeniable; for most of the Catalans, Real Madrid was regarded as "the establishment club", despite the fact that presidents of both clubs like Josep Sunyol and Rafael Sánchez Guerra, suffered at the hands of Franco's supporters in the Spanish Civil War.

And as always have a chilled day from the viking.