The Barcelona Derby | A One-Sided, Political Affair
The independence of Catalonia is a key political component to this derby | Photo Credit
It is widely accepted that for popularity, global viewership figures & just general notoriety, ‘El Clásico’ between FC Barcelona & Real Madrid is the biggest game in world football. It is a rivalry rich in history & usually has high stakes like La Liga title winning implications or Copa del Rey straight knockout ties.
People often mistake El Clásico for a derby. It is not. It is a rivalry, arguably the greatest the game has even seen. Barça & Real Madrid both contest their own derbies, in their own cities & it is the battle in the capital of Catalonia that is going to be examined here.
The Barcelona Derby
The ‘derbi Barceloní’ (Catalan), the ‘derbi Barcelonés’ (Spanish) or the Bareclona derby is the absolute definition of a David v Goliath story.
FC Barcelona are undoubtedly Goliath; their name & colours are known in every corner of the globe, they regularly possess the world’s best players, they attract multi-million euro sponsorship deals, they play at the biggest football stadium in Europe, they have a rich history of domestic & European honours & so on.
RCD Espanyol are David; essentially the exact opposite to everything mentioned previously.
Looking at the cold, hard facts of their head-to-head record, it paints a very one-sided picture since the sides first met in La Liga in 1929.
It will come as a surprise to few to learn that Lionel Messi is the fixture’s all-time top scorer with 26 goals | Photo Credit
According to TransferMarkt.com, Barça & Espanyol have played each other 189 times across La Liga, the Copa del Rey, the Supercopa de España & the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. Barca have won 112 of the games, Espanyol have won 36 & there have been 41 draws. This gives Espanyol a win percentage of 19%, the lowest head-to-head figure in their domestic history. While Barca’s head-to-head win percentage is just shy of 60%.
The Politics of the Barcelona Derby
This article would not be particularly interesting if it were to delve into the on-the-field history between the two. It is off-the-field & the political dynamic that makes this derby interesting.
Something to keep in mind throughout reading this article; the city of Barcelona is the capital of the autonomous region of Catalonia where a large percentage of people would like to see Catalonia secede from Spain & become its own, fully-independent nation.
FC Barcelona as a club have been at the forefront of this independence struggle for decades now. Many Barça fans, as well as players for that matter, identify as Catalan not Spanish & there have been countless political displays seen inside the Camp Nou down the years supporting the independence movement.
Club legend Gerard Pique flying the Catalonia & Barça colours | Photo Credit
Whereas RCD Espanyol have been far more compliant with the Madrid-based Spanish government & royal family down the years. Some Espanyol fans would consider themselves as Spanish & not Catalan, which is virtually unheard of amongst fans of Barça. A key component of this can be traced back to 1912.
King Alfonso XIII who ruled Spain from 1881 - 1931 was known to be a fan of football, which in the early part of his reign had just been introduced to Spain by the English. In an attempt to grow the game’s popularity & widespread appeal the King decided to bestow royal patronages to certain clubs from all across Spain giving them two great honours; they were allowed to add the title ‘Real’ (Royal) to their official club name & they were allowed to add the crown to their official club crest.
As a result of this royal patronage clubs like Real Madrid, Real Betis, Real Zaragoza & Real Mallorca were born. Espanyol’s full title? Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona. Essentially they had accepted the offer of becoming the ‘Royal’ team in Catalonia.
The royal crown is still evident on the Espanyol crest today | Photo Credit
A disclaimer to include here; Not everyone connected to Espanyol, players, club staff or fans, are all happy, royal family-loving Spanish citizens. Many are also in favour of an independent Catalonia. It is just when compared to the strong, vocal opinions from FC Barcelona regarding the subject of independence, Espanyol are not on their level.
A relevant comparison. Celtic FC or AEK Athens might consider themselves a left-wing club, but if you compare them to FC St. Pauli they are not on St. Pauli’s level of extreme-left. Any club compared to St. Pauli will seem further to the right. Similarly, if you compare Espanyol to Barça in terms of how pro-independence they are they are always going to come off as more compliant with Madrid, purely because of how extreme Barça are.
A recent example in the political differences between the clubs came in 2019 when nine Catalonia independence leaders were jailed for their political activism. Barça immediately came out with a statement condemning the actions of the Spanish government, giving their full backing to the imprisoned leaders.
One of many political banners seen at the Nou Camp in recent years | Photo Credit
Whereas Espanyol released a more neutral statement, at no point showing support for the imprisoned leaders & simply stating that they are a “purely sporting entity”.
For many Barça fans & people in-favour of independence, Espanyol’s silence told them all they needed to know.
Most Espanyol fans see the rivalry with Barça as purely a sporting one, with the political aspect not as heavily involved as their city neighbours. The political tension was a lot higher during the rule of General Franco for example & for them the political venom that used to exist has slowly dissipated from the fixture.
To add even more political intrigue & history to the backdrop of the fixture, just look at the formation of both clubs.
FC Barcelona was formed in 1899 by Swiss man Joan Gamper. In 1900 RCD Espanyol (initially known as Club Español de Fútbol) was formed by an engineering student at the University of Barcelona; Ángel Rodríguez. The close proximity of the beginnings of both clubs is no coincidence. Rodríguez was not happy with the foreign influence being exerted at Barça so he decided to set-up his own, Spanish/Catalan-only football club.
Essentially, FC Barcelona were not “local” enough for Rodríguez. Espanyol, as the club is known now, saw themselves as a club for the locals, by the locals. If you look at the current political situation in Catalonia & the stance taken by both clubs, it would seem the shoe is now on the other foot.
The ‘Tamudazo’ & Espanyol’s Relegation
Dissecting almost 100 years worth of derbies is too grand a task for an article like this, so in terms of on-the-field intrigue, there are two recent fixtures that stand-out & will never be forgotten by fans of either side.
Ask any Barça or Espanyol fan about the “Tamudazo” & you will get two very different reactions.
It was the second-last round of fixtures of the 2006/07 season & as usual Barça & Real Madrid were slogging it out to win La Liga. It all came down to the last two games of the season. Two Barca wins & La Liga was theirs. Their second-last game? A Barcelona derby. A late equaliser by Espanyol club legend Raúl Tamudo earned Espanyol a 2-2 draw at the Nou Camp & handed Real Madrid the advantage going into the last game of the season.
Real Madrid saw-off Real Mallorca on the final day of the season, beating Barça to the La Liga title right at the death. Barça won their final game too, but the damage had already been done by Raúl Tamudo.
For a derby as one-sided as this one & even though Espanyol did not actually win the game that day, the Tamudazo is a derby that Espanyol fans hold dear to their hearts. Real Madrid fans too.
Fast-forward about 13 years & Barça would land a blow to their city rivals that was every bit as important & painful as the Tamudazo.
The 2019/20 was a poor one for Espanyol spending the entire season in La Liga’s bottom three. Following the break from football due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Espanyol’s poor form continued & relegation was inevitable. As fortunes would dictate, the fixture that Espanyol were officially relegated by was at the hands of their city rivals. A Luis Suárez goal earned Barça a 1-0 win over Espanyol & relegated them to the Segunda.
“Today Could Be a Great Day”. Just because fans could not attend does not mean the occasion was not marked | Photo Credit
For Barça fans the Tamudazo had been avenged & upon their likely return to La Liga, Espanyol fans will not be allowed to forget about it too quickly.
Barcelona is an extremely popular city to visit for tourists from all over the world. A tour or a game at the Camp Nou is very high on the list of many tourists. However there is another club that calls the city home & RCD Espanyol are every bit as deserving of a visit as their neighbours.
And if you ever find yourself in the fortunate position to attend a derbí Barcelones, just because it does not have the glitz and glam of a Clásico, does not mean you won’t find the ultimate derby day atmosphere & passion on show. Go. Definitely go.