An eternal rivalry
10 hours to the Barcelona - Real Madrid football match at Barcelona's Camp Nou stadium. The match is one of the highlights of the Spanish Soccer League. "Barcelona-Madrid: More than a Match" counts down the time to kick-off by listening to fans and historians talk about their pet subject.
A Barcelona-Madrid match attracts Spanish football fans like moths to a flame. Apart from the game itself, the passions it rouses are worthy of a tragicomedy in which feelings and emotions mix with history and a distorted version of reality. Everyone has their own opinions and preconceived ideas. Catalans get the feeling they are unpopular with Spaniards and they tend to see the inhabitants of Madrid as arrogant and aloof. The Catalans are often seen as a rebellious crew of never-do-wells, a perception heightened by the fact that a fair number of its supporters advocate independence for Catalonia. Madrid fans seem to have an unshakeable belief that their team epitomizes Spanish football. Barcelona fans begrudge the way Catalonia's true worth and its claims to nationhood are dismissed by the rest of Spain in general and by Madrid in particular.
This heady brew of unflattering stereotypes and national rivalries, of fierce emotional and political competition, makes matches between the two teams a lot more than just a match.
A Barcelona-Madrid match attracts Spanish football fans like moths to a flame. Apart from the game itself, the passions it rouses are worthy of a tragicomedy in which feelings and emotions mix with history and a distorted version of reality. Everyone has their own opinions and preconceived ideas. Catalans get the feeling they are unpopular with Spaniards and they tend to see the inhabitants of Madrid as arrogant and aloof. The Catalans are often seen as a rebellious crew of never-do-wells, a perception heightened by the fact that a fair number of its supporters advocate independence for Catalonia. Madrid fans seem to have an unshakeable belief that their team epitomizes Spanish football. Barcelona fans begrudge the way Catalonia's true worth and its claims to nationhood are dismissed by the rest of Spain in general and by Madrid in particular.
This heady brew of unflattering stereotypes and national rivalries, of fierce emotional and political competition, makes matches between the two teams a lot more than just a match.
