{"id":87,"date":"2025-02-12T21:58:20","date_gmt":"2025-02-12T21:58:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/infotec01.ghsvids.org\/mluna\/?page_id=87"},"modified":"2025-03-17T21:43:44","modified_gmt":"2025-03-17T21:43:44","slug":"el-clasico","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/infotec01.ghsvids.org\/mluna\/real-madrid\/el-clasico\/","title":{"rendered":"El Cl\u00e1sico"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"How The Spanish Civil War Shaped El Cl\u00e1sico: Real Madrid vs Barcelona (Roots of the Rivalry)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2WpkS9AUdLY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/infotec01.ghsvids.org\/mluna\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/sddefault.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-123\" src=\"https:\/\/infotec01.ghsvids.org\/mluna\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/sddefault-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/infotec01.ghsvids.org\/mluna\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/sddefault-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/infotec01.ghsvids.org\/mluna\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/sddefault.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>There is often a fierce rivalry between the two strongest teams in a national league, and this is particularly the case in La Liga, where the game between Real Madrid and\u00a0Barcelona\u00a0is known as &#8220;The Classic&#8221; (El Cl\u00e1sico). From the start of national competitions the clubs were seen as representatives of two rival regions in Spain:\u00a0Castile\u00a0and\u00a0Catalonia, as well as of the two cities. The rivalry reflects what many regard as the political and cultural tensions felt between the\u00a0Castilians\u00a0and\u00a0Catalans, seen by one author as a re-enactment of the\u00a0Spanish Civil War.[245]\u00a0Over the years, the record for Real Madrid and Barcelona is 105 victories for Madrid, 101 victories for Barcelona, and 52 draws as of December 2024.[246]<\/p>\n<p>Real Madrid fans displaying the white of their club before\u00a0El Cl\u00e1sico. Real Madrid fans also often wave\u00a0Spanish flags\u00a0at\u00a0El Cl\u00e1sico\u00a0games.[247]<br \/>\nAs early as the 1930s, Barcelona &#8220;had developed a reputation as a symbol of Catalan identity, opposed to the centralising tendencies of Madrid&#8221;.[248][249]\u00a0During the dictatorships of\u00a0Miguel Primo de Rivera\u00a0and especially\u00a0Francisco Franco, all regional languages and identities in Spain were frowned upon and restrained. As such, most citizens of Barcelona were in strong opposition to\u00a0Franco&#8217;s regime. In that period, Barcelona gained their motto\u00a0M\u00e9s que un club\u00a0(English: More than a club) because of its alleged connection to\u00a0Catalan nationalist\u00a0as well as to\u00a0progressive\u00a0beliefs.[250]<\/p>\n<p>There is an ongoing controversy as to what extent Franco&#8217;s rule (1939\u201375) influenced the activities and on-pitch results of both Barcelona and Real Madrid. Fans of both clubs tend to exaggerate the myths favouring their narratives. Most historians agree that Franco did not have a preferred football team, but his Spanish nationalist beliefs led him to associate himself with the establishment teams, such as\u00a0Atl\u00e9tico Aviaci\u00f3n\u00a0and Madrid FC (that recovered its &#8220;royal&#8221; name after the fall of the Republic and again became Real Madrid). On the other hand, he also wanted the renamed Barcelona succeed as &#8220;Spanish team&#8221;, rather than a Catalan one. During the early years of Franco&#8217;s rule, Real Madrid were not particularly successful, winning two\u00a0Copa del General\u00edsimo\u00a0titles and a\u00a0Copa Eva Duarte; Barcelona claimed three\u00a0league titles, one Copa del General\u00edsimo and one Copa Eva Duarte. During that period, Atl\u00e9tico Aviaci\u00f3n were believed to be the preferred team over Real Madrid. The most contested stories of the period include Real Madrid&#8217;s\u00a011\u20131 home win against Barcelona\u00a0in the\u00a0Copa del General\u00edsimo, where the Catalan team alleged intimidation, and the controversial transfer of\u00a0Alfredo Di St\u00e9fano\u00a0to Real Madrid, despite his agreement with Barcelona. The latter transfer was part of Real Madrid chairman\u00a0Santiago Bernab\u00e9u&#8217;s &#8220;revolution&#8221; that ushered in the era of unprecedented dominance. Bernab\u00e9u, himself a veteran of the Civil War who fought for\u00a0Franco&#8217;s forces, saw Real Madrid on top, not only of Spanish, but also European football, helping create the\u00a0European Cup, the first true competition for Europe&#8217;s best club sides. His vision was fulfilled when Real Madrid not only started winning consecutive league titles, but also swept the first five editions of the European Cup in the 1950s.[251]\u00a0These events had a profound impact on Spanish football and influenced Franco&#8217;s attitude. According to historians, during this time he realized the importance of Real Madrid for his regime&#8217;s international image, and the club became his preferred team until his death.\u00a0Fernando Maria Castiella, who served as\u00a0minister of foreign affairs\u00a0under Franco from 1957 until 1969, noted that &#8220;[Real Madrid] is the best embassy we have ever had&#8221;. Franco died in 1975, and the\u00a0Spanish transition to democracy\u00a0soon followed. Under his rule,\u00a0Real Madrid had won\u00a014 league titles, six Copa del General\u00edsimo titles, one Copa Eva Duarte, six European Cups, two\u00a0Latin Cups\u00a0and one\u00a0Intercontinental Cup. In the same period,\u00a0Barcelona had won\u00a0eight league titles, nine Copa del General\u00edsimo titles, three Copa Eva Duarte titles, three\u00a0Inter-Cities Fairs Cups\u00a0and two Latin Cups.[252][186]<\/p>\n<p>The rivalry was intensified during the 1950s when the clubs disputed the signing of\u00a0Alfredo Di St\u00e9fano. Di St\u00e9fano had impressed both Barcelona and Real Madrid while playing for\u00a0Los Millonarios\u00a0in\u00a0Bogot\u00e1,\u00a0Colombia, during a players&#8217; strike in his native\u00a0Argentina. Soon after Millonarios&#8217; return to Colombia, Barcelona directors visited Buenos Aires and agreed with River Plate, the last FIFA-affiliated team to have held Di St\u00e9fano&#8217;s rights, for his transfer in 1954 for the equivalent of 150 million Italian lira (according to other sources 200,000 dollars). This started a battle between the two Spanish rivals for his rights. FIFA appointed Armando Mu\u00f1oz Calero, former president of the Spanish Football Federation as mediator. Calero decided to let Di St\u00e9fano play the 1953\u201354 and 1955\u201356 seasons in Madrid, and the 1954\u201355 and 1956\u201357 seasons in Barcelona. The agreement was approved by the Football Association and their respective clubs. Although the Catalans agreed, the decision created various discontent among the Blaugrana members and the president was forced to resign in September 1953. Barcelona sold Madrid their half-share, and Di St\u00e9fano moved to\u00a0Los Blancos, signing a four-year contract. Real paid 5.5 million Spanish pesetas for the transfer, plus a 1.3 million bonus for the purchase, an annual fee to be paid to the Millonarios, and a 16,000 salary for Di St\u00e9fano with a bonus double that of his teammates, for a total of 40% of the annual revenue of the Madrid club.[253]<\/p>\n<p>Di St\u00e9fano became integral in the subsequent success achieved by Real Madrid, scoring twice in his first game against Barcelona. With him, Madrid won the first five editions of the\u00a0European Cup.[254]\u00a0The 1960s saw the rivalry reach the European stage when Real Madrid and Barcelona met twice in the European Cup, with Madrid triumphing en route to their fifth consecutive title in\u00a01959\u201360\u00a0and Barcelona prevailing en route to losing the final in\u00a01960\u201361. Ahead of the 1973\u201374 season,\u00a0Johan Cruyff\u00a0arrived to Barcelona for a world record \u00a3920,000 from\u00a0Ajax.[255]\u00a0Already an established player with Ajax, Cruyff quickly won over the Barcelona fans when he told the European press that he chose Barcelona over Real Madrid because he could not play for a club associated with Francisco Franco. He further endeared himself when he named his son\u00a0&#8220;Jordi&#8221;, after the local Catalan\u00a0Saint George.[256]\u00a0In 2002, the\u00a0European encounter\u00a0between the clubs was dubbed the &#8220;Match of The Century&#8221; by Spanish media, and Madrid&#8217;s win was watched by more than 500 million people around the world.[257]\u00a0A fixture known for its intensity and indiscipline, it has also featured\u00a0memorable goal celebrations\u00a0from both teams, often involving mocking the opposition.[258]\u00a0In October 1999, Real Madrid forward\u00a0Ra\u00fal\u00a0silenced 100,000 Barcelona fans at the Camp Nou when he scored before he celebrated by putting a finger to his lips as if telling the crowd to be quiet.[258][259]\u00a0In 2009, Barcelona captain\u00a0Carles Puyol\u00a0kissed his Catalan armband in front of Madrid fans at the Bernab\u00e9u.[258]\u00a0Cristiano Ronaldo twice gestured to the hostile crowd to &#8220;calm down&#8221; after scoring against Barcelona at the Camp Nou in 2012 and 2016.[258]\u00a0In April 2017, Messi celebrated his 93rd-minute winner for Barcelona against Real Madrid at the Bernab\u00e9u by taking off his Barcelona shirt and holding it up to incensed Real Madrid fans \u2013 with his name and number facing them.[258]\u00a0Later that year, in August, Ronaldo was subbed on in the first leg of the\u00a0Supercopa de Espa\u00f1a, proceeded to score in the 80th minute and took his shirt off before holding it up to Bar\u00e7a&#8217;s fans with his name and number facing them.[260]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There is often a fierce rivalry between the two strongest teams in a national league, and this is particularly the case in La Liga, where the game between Real Madrid and\u00a0Barcelona\u00a0is known as &#8220;The Classic&#8221; (El Cl\u00e1sico). From the start of national competitions the clubs were seen as representatives of two rival regions in Spain:\u00a0Castile\u00a0and\u00a0Catalonia, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":75,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-87","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/infotec01.ghsvids.org\/mluna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/87","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/infotec01.ghsvids.org\/mluna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/infotec01.ghsvids.org\/mluna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/infotec01.ghsvids.org\/mluna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/infotec01.ghsvids.org\/mluna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/infotec01.ghsvids.org\/mluna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/87\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":133,"href":"https:\/\/infotec01.ghsvids.org\/mluna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/87\/revisions\/133"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/infotec01.ghsvids.org\/mluna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/75"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/infotec01.ghsvids.org\/mluna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}