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HISTORY From the early days of Football In Spain the two clubs were seen as representatives of the two rival regions, Castile and Catalonia , as well as the two cities themselves. The rivalry projects what some regard as the political and cultural tensions felt between Castillians and Catalans . During the dictatorships of Primo De Rivera and (especially) of Francisco Franco , all regional identities were openly suppressed (e.g. the peripheral languages were officially banned). So FC Barcelona became more than a club ( Més Que Un Club ) for Catalonia because of its connection to the liberty of the Catalan identity. On the contrary, for most of the Catalans and many other Spaniards , Real Madrid was representing the oppressive Centralism . However, during the Spanish Civil War itself, members of both clubs like Josep Sunyol and Rafael Sánchez Guerra , suffered at the hands of Franco supporters. During the 1950s the rivalry was intensified further when the clubs disputed the signing of Alfredo Di Stefano , who finally played for Real Madrid and was key in the subsequent success achieved by the club. The 1960s saw the rivalry reach the European stage when they met twice at the European Cup , Real Madrid winning in 1960 and FC Barcelona winning in 1961 . In 2000 the rivalry was reinforced following the controversial decision by Luís Figo to leave FC Barcelona and sign for Real Madrid. The two teams met again in the UEFA Champions League semi-final in 2002 . Real Madrid, the eventual champion, won the clash dubbed by Spanish media as the ''Match of the Century''. MATCHES These are only the league matches
HEAD TO HEAD PLAYERS WHO PLAYED FOR BOTH SIDES While the transfers of Luis Enrique from Real Madrid to Barcelona and Luís Figo from Barcelona to Real Madrid caused uproars among the fans of their respective clubs, the rivalry between the two teams have not prevented players from switching teams. Legendary players such as Ricardo Zamora , Josep Samitier , Bernd Schuster , Michael Laudrup and Ronaldo have also played for both teams.1 Michael Laudrup and Bernd Schuster, perhaps, are the only players in history who are loved by the fans of both clubs.
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