World's most intense football derbies

FC Barcelona vs Real Madrid

This list was never going to be complete without this rivalry. THE El Clasico. Arguably the greatest and certainly the most famous rivalry on the face of the earth. And in recent Clasico’s clashes two players have had a major chunk of the limelight – Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, the two best players in the world and important cogs in their teams’ wheel of progress. And the two new multi-million dollar recruits – Neymar and Gareth Bale have only fueled the flames. Fan violence hasn’t been much of an issue but a few incidents stand apart. For instance Luis Figo was given quite a hostile reception at the Camp Nou when he returned to play against his former employers in the Real Madrid whites and had a pig’s head thrown at him. Barcelona were a symbol of Catalan pride representing the public, while Real were formed by the king of Spain, a club for the wealthy elites. This difference laid the foundation to the most glamorous rivalry ever, a rivalry which is celebrated with as much pride and honour as it was half a century ago and will continue to, in the generations to come.