The real reasons why Barcelona v Real Madrid is one of the greatest grudge matches in the world

By Guillem Balague

Published 05:01 27/11/09

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More than £500million worth of talent goes head to head as Barcelona take on Real Madrid this Sunday on Sky Sports.

I have spent countless hours in discussion with English friends trying to make sense of this particular rivalry, and the one thing that comes across as I listen to the views of neutrals is that Barcelona seem to be winning the argument: the majority of fans outside Spain seem to position Barca as the good guys, with Real Madrid portrayed as pantomime villains.

It's a simplistic way of understanding a complex mix of politics, history and culture - but it has taken hold because it's convenient, not just for foreign fans and media, but for the clubs themselves: It's good for business.

This is football's biggest grudge match and like prizefighters squaring up at the weigh in, the animosity makes good box office ñ only these two heavyweights have been staring each other out and swapping insults for over a century.

Like boxing, the punters love a David and Goliath story and Barcelona have been milking their status as underdogs for all it’s worth, while Real Madrid are more than happy to play the role of the big guy. But how much do those roles reflect reality?

Barcelona fans will tell you that their club spent half the last century struggling against the odds to overcome a rival that enjoyed the backing of a brutal dictator; yet while Franco was known to have enjoyed a flutter on the pools, his actual engagement with club football was far more limited.

In fact, most Barcelona fans forget to mention that in the post civil war years, when the regime was at its most repressive, the Catalan club was considerably more successful than their rivals in Madrid.

Likewise, after Franco died, Barcelona fans waited a decade to see their side win a title, while Madrid went on to win four of the first five during that period.

Madrid's claims of grandeur are based upon the fact that they are the most successful side in history - but even that statistic should not go unchallenged, not least because, as Stoichkov once said "Most of their European Cups are in black and white."

In the last 40 years, Real Madrid have won the European Cup three times - the same number as Barcelona - and less than Liverpool, Ajax, Bayern, Milan.

Meanwhile, Real Madrid ultras who celebrate their club's Spanish identity in the extreme probably squirm at the realisation that it is FC Barcelona, not Real Madrid, who now - as always - provide more players for the national team.

The point is, it suits Barcelona to cultivate and exploit their status as victim and bastion of all that is good about the game -just as it suits Madrid to go around acting as if they're bigger than everyone else.

Even fans in England have bought into it: most supporters here would name Real Madrid as the worst culprit around when it comes to throwing their weight around in the transfer market and tapping players up.

But Madrid are no worse than anyone else. Fabregas and Barcelona? Berbatov and United? 

But let's not let the facts get in the way of a good argument: this grudge match has us all enthralled...

Gulliem Balague's column appears in association with www.icons.com