Real Madrid 8–1 Athletic Bilbao (19 June 1960)[3][4]
Athletic Bilbao
Real Madrid
Athletic Bilbao
Real Madrid
El Viejo Clásico (The Old Classic), also known asEl Otro Clásico (The Other Classic)[5] is the name given to anyfootball match betweenAthletic Bilbao andReal Madrid.[6][7] Until 10 December 2011, this fixture was the most played in the history ofSpanish football, when it was surpassed byEl Clásico (between Real Madrid andFC Barcelona).[8] However, it remains the most played game in theCopa del Rey – although only five of the 56 matches took place in the 21st century.
These two clubs, along with Barcelona, are the only participants in all editions ofLa Liga, the national league championship.[9][5] Both are owned by theirsocios (members) who elect a club president to oversee its affairs.[10][11][12]
Their first meeting occurred in thefinal of the first edition of theCopa del Rey, played on 8 April 1903; Athletic won 3–2.[13] That match has been identified as a catalyst for the establishment a few weeks later of what would eventually becomeClub Atlético de Madrid, after some Madrid-based Basque students among the spectators were inspired by the comeback victory by Athletic Bilbao and decided to form a local branch of the club.[14]
Their first match at the originalSan Mamés took place in that competition in1920.[15] Meetings became common as Athletic Bilbao and Real Madrid dominated the regional tournaments (Biscay Championship andMadrid Regional Championship respectively), the winning of which granted access to the Copa del Rey.
TheBasques andCastilians met in nine Cup finals between 1903 and 1958; Athletic won six of these matches.[16][17]
On 21 April 1929, Athletic Bilbao and Real Madrid met for the first time in La Liga; Real Madrid won the match atChamartín 5–1.[18] The 1929 Copa del Rey semi-final second leg in Bilbao became known as the 'frog match', after a local company distributed toys which made frog-like noises to increase the noise level in the stadium to distract the visitors, who were 3–1 up from the first leg. The ploy failed resoundingly, with Real Madrid recording a 4–1 win to progress 7–2; however they would lose the final.[15] The two clubs would share ten of thefirst 25 championships (Athletic six, Madrid four) either side of theSpanish Civil War up to 1956, but from that pointLos Blancos becamethe dominant club in the country, winning 16 titles from 26 available (plus sixEuropean Cups).
In that era, thecaudilloGeneral Franco used the success of Real Madrid (based in thecapital city, the seat of power) as a vehicle to promote theSpanish State to foreigners,[19][20][21] whereas Athletic Bilbao – the largest club in the peripheralBasque region[22][23][24][25] whose customs and language were repressed by the central government – won no titles in the same period, only even finishing runners-up once.
The Basques and other regionsregained more self-control in the years following Franco's death in 1975, symbolised by the joint display of the bannedBasque flag by the captains of Athletic andlocal rivalsReal Sociedad at a match between them a year later.[26] However, many of the supporters of Athletic and Real Madrid, including theirUltras groups (Herri Norte andUltras Sur respectively), still adhere to opposing views in terms of theirnational identity.[27][28][29][30] In this regard, the relationship has similarities with the more famous and intenseEl Clásico rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona (representingCatalonia).[31][32][33][5]
On the field, a competitive edge was briefly restored in the early 1980s when Athletic built a strong combative team thatwon the league twice, finishing ahead of Real Madrid by one point in1983 with the top spot changing hands on the last day;[34] the season was nothing short of a disaster for theMeringues, who also lost in the finals of theSupercopa, theCopa del Rey (to a last-minute goal), theEuropean Cup Winners' Cup (inextra time), and theCopa de la Liga. In the following campaign, Athletic pipped Madrid by a single goal and better head-to-head record,[35] but theirleague andcup double that year was the last time they lifted either trophy; Real Madrid soon responded with a run of five-in-a-row, led by their group of homegrown talent,La Quinta del Buitre.[35]
During a hotly-contested fixture in Bilbao in March 1990, the referee awarded a dubious penalty to the away side and had to halt the game for 12 minutes after objects were thrown at thelinesman and Madrid goalkeeperPaco Buyo.[36][15] The match finished as normal, but as a consequence the San Mamés stadium was closed for one match, with Athletic playingReal Valladolid at theAtotxa Stadium inSan Sebastián.[37][38]
Entering the 21st century, other clubs offered significant challenges to Real Madrid, such asAtlético Madrid (theircity rivals who were originally formed as an offshoot of Athletic Bilbao and thus have a similar name, crest and kit),[39][40]Valencia and Barcelona. Athletic Bilbao were not among this group, now hampered by their self-imposedrestrictive Basque-only player policy in an age of worldwide recruitment,[41] exemplified by Madrid'sGalácticos who won eight furtherChampions Leagues between1998 and2022.
Real Madrid have aglobal fanbase and are one of the world's richest,[42]most decorated[43] and best-attended[44][45] clubs. Athletic have a much lower profile and have occasionally flirted with relegation[46] (a situation observed with derision at theSantiago Bernabéu Stadium),[47] although they have consistently ranked among the top half-dozen clubs in Spain for performance,[41][48] matchday attendance[44] and popularity.[49] Nevertheless, despite the disparities in stature between the two clubs, the fixtures remain keenly fought due to their historical and cultural significance.[50]
There is no doubt who has the upper hand in recent meetings: in2004–05 Athletic won home and away against Real Madrid, but since then they won just two of their home matches[33][51] in the dozen seasons up to2016–17, and took no points at all from the 12 matches at the Bernabéu[52] with Real Madrid registering four or five goals on several occasions;[53] theMerengues also won both legs of the cup tie between the sides in2006 (they would not be paired again for 15 years).[54]
In April 2011, Real Madrid registered a 3–0 away win over Athletic despite resting several players for important upcoming games,[55] and in the same fixture in May 2012 they achieved the same result and scoreline to clinch their 32nd title in Bilbao, becoming the first visiting team to win the league in the city.[56]Cristiano Ronaldo scored in both matches,[6] and he is Real Madrid's top goalscorer in the fixture, having overtakenRaúl's tally of 15 in 2016.[57] Both Ronaldo and Athletic'sZarra have 17 league goals in the fixture, but Zarra is still some way ahead overall with 24.[2]
The clubs' first meeting in theSupercopa de España was in2020–21, when Athletic Bilbao defeated La Liga title holders Real Madrid in the semi-final and went on to win the trophy.[58] The outcome was reversed thefollowing season, as Madrid won the2022 final 2–0 in Saudi Arabia[59] – the first time the two teams had met to directly compete for a trophy since the1958 Copa del Generalísimo Final.[60] Two weeks after that, Athletic eliminated Real Madrid from the2021–22 Copa del Rey at the quarter-final stage in their first meeting in the competition since 2006.[61]
The careers of Alkorta and Karanka closely mirrored one another: bothcentral defenders, each started at Athletic then had a successful spell at Real Madrid before returning to Bilbao, with Karanka – five years younger – actually replacing Alkorta at every turn.[83][84][85]
Ismael Urzaiz, who played over 400 times for Athletic, started his career at Real Madrid'sLa Fabrica academy in the 1990s but did not make a league appearance for the club.[86] Decades earlier, others were contracted to both clubs but only appeared in La Liga for one, includingJosé Mandaluniz.[87][88][89][90]
The early Madrid player and managerArthur Johnson is also named by some sources as being manager of Athletic Bilbao,[93] but the club does not include him in the list on their website.[94] Also, in July 2010 Aitor Karanka was appointed assistant manager at Real Madrid by managerJosé Mourinho.[95]
^The totals do not include two fixtures played in theChampions Tournament of 1927–28 (Athletic 4–0 Real Madrid[64] and Real Madrid 3–0 Athletic),[65] part of theLiga Española de Football, a predecessor of the Spanish league which was never completed. Athletic Bilbao's archive lists the matches in the competition as friendlies.[66]
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