Real Madrid 8–1 Athletic Bilbao (19 June 1960)[3][4]
Athletic Bilbao
Real Madrid
El Viejo Clásico (The Old Classic), also known as El Otro Clásico (The Other Classic)[5] is the name given to any
football match between
Athletic Bilbao and
Real Madrid.[6][7] Until 10 December 2011, this fixture was the most played in the history of
Spanish football, when it was surpassed by
El Clásico (between Real Madrid and
FC Barcelona).[8] However, it remains the most played game in the
Copa 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 of
La Liga, the national league championship.[9][5] Both are owned by their socios (members) who elect a club president to oversee its affairs.[10][11][12]
History
Their first meeting occurred in the
final of the first edition of the
Copa 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 become
Club 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 original
San Mamés took place in that competition in
1920.[15] Meetings became common as Athletic Bilbao and Real Madrid dominated the regional tournaments (
Biscay Championship and
Madrid Regional Championship respectively), the winning of which granted access to the Copa del Rey.
The
Basques and
Castilians met in nine Cup finals between 1903 and 1958; Athletic won six of these matches.[16][17]
First league matches, Francoist Spain and beyond
On 21 April 1929, Athletic Bilbao and Real Madrid met for the first time in La Liga; Real Madrid won the match at
Chamartín 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 the
first 25 championships (Athletic six, Madrid four) either side of the
Spanish Civil War up to 1956, but from that point Los Blancos became
the dominant club in the country, winning 16 titles from 26 available (plus six
European Cups).
In that era, the caudilloGeneral Franco used the success of Real Madrid (based in the
capital city, the seat of power) as a vehicle to promote the
Spanish State to foreigners,[19][20][21] whereas Athletic Bilbao – the largest club in the peripheral
Basque 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 regions
regained more self-control in the years following Franco's death in 1975, symbolised by the joint display of the banned
Basque flag by the captains of Athletic and
local rivalsReal Sociedad at a match between them a year later.[26] However, many of the supporters of Athletic and Real Madrid, including their
Ultras groups (Herri Norte and Ultras Sur respectively), still adhere to opposing views in terms of their
national identity.[27][28][29][30] In this regard, the relationship has similarities with the more famous and intense El Clásico rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona (representing
Catalonia).[31][32][33][5]
On the field, a competitive edge was briefly restored in the early 1980s when Athletic built a strong combative team that
won the league twice, finishing ahead of Real Madrid by one point in
1983 with the top spot changing hands on the last day;[34] the season was nothing short of a disaster for the Meringues, who also lost in the finals of the
Supercopa, the
Copa del Rey (to a last-minute goal), the
European Cup Winners' Cup (in
extra time), and the
Copa de la Liga. In the following campaign, Athletic pipped Madrid by a single goal and better head-to-head record,[35] but their
league and
cup 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 the
linesman and Madrid goalkeeper
Paco Buyo.[36][15] The match finished as normal, but as a consequence the San Mamés stadium was closed for one match, with Athletic playing
Real Valladolid at the
Atotxa Stadium in
San Sebastián.[37][38]
21st century
Entering the 21st century, other clubs offered significant challenges to Real Madrid, such as
Atlético Madrid (their
city 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-imposed
restrictive Basque-only player policy in an age of worldwide recruitment,[41] exemplified by Madrid's Galácticos who won eight further
Champions Leagues between
1998 and
2022.
Real Madrid have a
global 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 the
Santiago 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: in
2004–05 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 to
2016–17, 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] the Merengues also won both legs of the cup tie between the sides in
2006 (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 overtaken
Raúl's tally of 15 in 2016.[57] Both Ronaldo and Athletic's
Zarra have 17 league goals in the fixture, but Zarra is still some way ahead overall with 24.[2]
The clubs' first meeting in the
Supercopa de España was in
2020–21, 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 the
following season, as Madrid won the
2022 final 2–0 in Saudi Arabia[59] – the first time the two teams had met to directly compete for a trophy since the
1958 Copa del Generalísimo Final.[60] Two weeks after that, Athletic eliminated Real Madrid from the
2021–22 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: both
central 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's La 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, including
José Mandaluniz [
es].[87][88][89][90]
Managers
Five coaches have been at the helm of both clubs:[91][92]
The early Madrid player and manager
Arthur 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 manager
José Mourinho.[95]
^The totals do not include two fixtures played in the Champions Tournament of 1927–28 (Athletic 4–0 Real Madrid[64] and Real Madrid 3–0 Athletic),[65] part of the
Liga 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]