The El Clasico back stories

Another El Clasico beckons us; first of this year 2012. Now, every footballing contest around the world has an intriguing back story, let alone the biggest derby match in the world.

El Gran Clasico carries with it the weight of a 110-year old history, the first match being played out in 1902, a Copa Del Rey contest, which Barca won 3-1.

Here are some interesting and otherwise lesser known stories behind the El Clasico:

Political and Social influence

Football is more than just a game and hence Barcelona is more than just a football club, més que un club; and so is Real. These two clubs have always been the face of two polar opposite ideals of Spain.

Real representing the centralised and fascist philosophy while Barcelona stands for the ideals of republicanism, federalism and communism which all arises from the region of Catalunya , of which Barcelona is the capital. As a consequence, Real followers are generally considered to be closer to the right wing political views while Barca fans lean towards the left. The Spanish Civil War of1936-39 epitomised the political influence exerted by the two clubs.

Luis Figo and the pig head

Fast forward half a century and you would find the most incredible illustration of the hatred experienced by players of both sides.

Transfers and switching players between sides would unquestionably mean that the players bore the brunt of the enmity, between a certain Luis Figo had to bear the ‘grunt’ of a pig head.

After a controversial move from Barca to Real, Figo had several items thrown at him whenever he attempted to take a corner, during an away league match at Camp Nou; which included a pig head!

Other players who faced similar scorn were former Madrid coach Bernd Schuster and Danish Michael Laudrup.

Catalonia National Football Team

Did you know that Catalonia had a national side comprising players originating from the region? Though not an official Fifa or Uefa affiliated team, they have played over 200 matches.

The present coach of this side is the Dutch great Johan Cryuff and the squad includes a majority of the Barcelona squad, including Xavi, Pique, Fabregas and Valdes. In their latest game against Tunisia, they played out a 0-0 draw.