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Athletic–Barcelona clásico

April 11, 2024

The Athletic–Barcelona clásico refers to football matches between Athletic Bilbao and FC Barcelona, two clubs competing in Spanish football competitions.

Athletic–Barcelona clásico
LocationSpain
TeamsAthletic Bilbao
FC Barcelona
First meeting2 May 1920
Copa del Rey
Barcelona 2–0 Athletic Bilbao
Latest meeting3 March 2024
La Liga
Athletic Bilbao 0–0 Barcelona
StadiumsSan Mamés (Bilbao)
Camp Nou (Barcelona)
Statistics
Meetings total240 (official)
Most winsBarcelona (121, official)
Most player appearancesAgustín Gainza (42)[1]
Top scorerLionel Messi (29)[2]
Largest victoryAthletic Bilbao 12–1 Barcelona, 1931[3]
Athletic Bilbao
Barcelona

The two clubs are among the oldest in the country, and have participated in every season of the national championship, La Liga. Owing to this, as well as contesting nine finals of the Copa del Rey[4][5] (in which they are the two most successful clubs),[6] it is the third most-played football fixture in Spain, after the meetings of each with the third constant member of the league, Real Madrid. Due to this, it has been referred to as a Clásico,[4][6][7][8] the modern Spanish term for a significant and traditional fixture (a classic) which is not a derbi based on geographical proximity.

The relationship between Athletic and Barcelona has historically been fairly healthy aside from certain periods when competitiveness became hostility, such as in the early 1980s.[9][10][11] By the turn of the 21st century, the rivalry had largely become a historical concept due to the disparity in the fortunes of the clubs and the lack of a local element,[12][13] but their frequent meetings in matches of importance, including four Copa del Rey finals[14][15] and three Supercopa fixtures in a dozen seasons, restored some relevancy to the fixture.[16]

Profile of clubs edit

 
Athletic (left) and Barcelona playing in change kits in the flag colours of their respective Basque and Catalan identities (2014)[17]

Athletic Bilbao and Barcelona are both owned by their socios (members) who elect a president to oversee club affairs.[18][19][20] They also place great importance in developing local players through their cantera (youth systems),[21][22][23][24] and were among the last major clubs to adopt a commercial sponsor logo on their jerseys (Athletic doing so in 2008 and Barcelona three years later).[25][26][7]

As the most successful clubs in their native regions (the Basque Country for Athletic and Catalonia for Barcelona)[11] and seen by many of their supporters as the sporting embodiment of the native population, the clubs have important and similar roles in the national football culture,[17] with Athletic's adherence to a unique 'Basque only' player policy[12] and Barcelona's efforts to become the world's best while maintaining and promoting a distinct Catalan identity exemplifying two diverse approaches to being a sporting symbol of their homelands.

Barcelona in particular have a far more intense rivalry with Real Madrid – perceived to represent the dominant Castile region and the Spanish royal family[27] – sometimes known as the Gran Clásico, it has become simply El Clásico; they also contest a local derby in Greater Barcelona against Espanyol which too has political aspects.[28] Athletic Bilbao's attitude towards Real Madrid is also more frosty than their relationship with Barcelona due to the differences in the political and cultural identity of the clubs, and they have a significant local rivalry in the Basque autonomous region with Real Sociedad.[29][30]

History edit

The date of the first meeting between the two clubs is a matter of debate. The final of the 1902 Copa de la Coronación was played between Barcelona and Club Biscaya (a combined team of Athletic Club and Bilbao FC, which merged the following year); Biscaya won the match 2–1. Athletic regard themselves as the successor to the Biscaya team and the Copa Coronación as the first edition of the Copa del Rey, including it with later wins in their official honours.[31] However, the Spanish Federation gives 1903 as the commencement date for the Copa del Rey, disregarding the previous year's tournament in its records, so it has never been fully established if they regard Biscaya and Athletic as the same club or not.[15] Barcelona's team in the final also included players from Hispania AC, meaning theirs was also something of a combined force rather than a single club entity.[32]

Athletic and Barcelona were both successful in the early years of the national cup: between 1903 and 1920, the Basques won seven Copas and the Catalans three (including wins for both in the 1910 edition where two competitions were held, both considered official retrospectively), but they did not face each other at any stage of the tournament until their first undisputed meeting in the 1920 Final held in Gijón, which Barcelona won 2–0.[14][5][33] In the following edition, Barcelona withdrew in protest after the federation changed the venue of the final to Bilbao, and it was the 'home' club who eventually took the trophy.[34]

Regional qualifying leagues were introduced, and Athletic became the dominant club in the Biscay Championship (from 1913) while Barça were the strongest in the Catalan football championship (its earliest version was held in 1901). In that period, the two clubs introduced measures which led to them becoming important symbols of their respective homelands,[35][36] Athletic implementing a policy of using only local players in response to being criticised by opponents for selecting too many foreigners,[37][38] and Barça adopting Catalan as their official language. In that era, matches were played by representative teams from each of the regional leagues, including several fixtures between Catalonia and the Basque Country.

La Liga beginnings and Franco era edit

The teams did not meet again prior to the establishment in 1929 of a national professional league championship, La Liga, which would see them face off regularly and become rivals for the title:[6] Barcelona won the first edition but failed to make much impact thereafter, suffering the humiliation of a 12–1 defeat at the hands of Athletic Bilbao in 1931 (Bata scoring seven in what still ranks as the biggest win in the history of the competition)[3][39][40][33] and also losing the 1932 Copa del Rey Final to the Lions.[41][4][5] Athletic were champions four times in the following seven seasons up to the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936.

 
László Kubala had such an impact on Barcelona that his statue now stands outside the club's stadium

In broad terms, Catalonia and most parts of the Basque Country fought on the losing Republican side in the conflict, and the victorious Nationalist regime soon introduced measures against regional languages and cultures.[42] In 1941, football teams with 'foreign names' and symbols were required to amend them to a Spanish equivalent,[43][44] thus Club de Fútbol Barcelona and Atlético de Bilbao became the official titles of the historic clubs and the Catalan flag was replaced with the Spanish on Barcelona's crest[11] (the short-lived Republic had done the same with Royalist symbols in the previous decade, altering the names of clubs such as Real Madrid and Real Sociedad and removing crowns from their crests). This oppressive centralist atmosphere in society contributed to the clubs becoming even more important to the local populations, the stadium being one of the few places where they could speak their language and express themselves freely.[27] In this regard, the clubs had much in common and meetings between them were akin to an international fixture, with the regional representative teams also having been disbanded.

In the domestic league, the performances of Barcelona and Athletic were comparable until the 1960s, with the Basques winning only two titles during the period from 1939 to 1960 compared to seven for the Catalans, but both finishing near the top of the table most years. Athletic won seven cups to Barcelona's six, although the finals between them in 1942 and 1953 both went the way of the Blaugrana.[4][5][15] The Barça coach in the latter match, Ferdinand Daučík, soon took over at Athletic, and won trophies with both clubs.

Daučík had moved to Spain at the same time as his son-in-law and the club's star of the period, the Hungarian László Kubala, who was the first of several foreign imports to make an impact (although the vast majority of players would remain Spanish until much later), winning the league several times plus two Inter-Cities Fairs Cups and a Latin Cup, and enduring a narrow defeat in the 1961 European Cup Final; he suffered a serious knee injury inflicted by Athletic's Eneko Arieta in 1954.[33] During his stay, the club also opened their massive ambitious Camp Nou stadium,[45] the cost of which would weaken the club economically for many years.[46] Real Madrid had moved to a larger ground a few years earlier, and they too signed talent from Eastern Europe and South America as well as from around Spain which propelled them to further domestic and continental success, with the positive international exposure pleasing the regime.[47]

Athletic had a talented forward line in that era, spearheaded by prolific striker Zarra[48] who set multiple goalscoring records[49][50] including most goals in a season, most overall league goals,[51] most hat-tricks,[52] most goals by an opposition player against Real Madrid,[53] and most goals in the Athletic vs Barcelona fixture.[54] However, just prior to the introduction of regular continental competitions, he and his peers passed their peak, and from that time on the club were unable to consistently compete with their old foes for honours. They continued to use only Basque players, and chose to redevelop their San Mamés stadium rather than constructing a replacement, with much of the funding sourced from the transfer of their defender Jesús Garay to Barcelona in 1960.[55]

1977 UEFA Cup tie edit

 
Athletic eliminated Barcelona and Johan Cruyff during their 1976–77 UEFA Cup run

Athletic and Barcelona both took part in the 1976–77 UEFA Cup having won only one league title between them in almost two decades (Barça in 1974), and both eager for glory in Europe. They were drawn together in the quarter-finals; it was the first time Athletic had played another Spanish team in a continental tournament. The two clubs had already played both league fixtures that season, the Catalans winning 3–1 in Bilbao and the Basques claiming a 2–0 victory at the Camp Nou ten days before their UEFA Cup tie.[56] The tie was played in an unusually friendly atmosphere due to the similar regional identity of the two clubs, whose supporters were excited by the prospect of a brighter future for their respective territories after the death of dictator General Franco and the weakening of his regime. By that point, the clubs' original names and identity were restored.[43][57]

In the tie, Athletic held on for a 2–1 lead at San Mamés and led by the same scoreline by half time in the second leg thanks to a brace of away goals from Javier Irureta, requiring Barça to score three more times in the last 45 minutes. They could only manage one, through Johan Cruyff (their biggest foreign star of the era),[33] so the Lions qualified for the penultimate stage of a European tournament for the first time.[58][59][60] They reached the final, but lost to Juventus.[61]

Violence in 1983–84 edit

 
Diego Maradona (right), during his time at Barcelona

Background edit

By the early 1980s, Barcelona were becoming desperate for major success. They had still not won La Liga since 1974,[62] and in addition to Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid who usually had talented squads, Real Sociedad from the Basque city of San Sebastián had assembled a strong team composed entirely of local homegrown talent, who finished above Barça in 1979 and continued to improve, being runners-up the following year before winning back-to-back titles in 1981 and 1982, overtaking Barcelona in the closing stages of the latter campaign.[63][11] The Catalans hired famous coaches Helenio Herrera and Udo Lattek, but were left unsatisfied even with Copa victories in 1978 and 1981 (after overcoming Athletic in the semi-finals)[64] followed by UEFA Cup Winners' Cups in 1979 and 1982.[11] They had paid a world record transfer fee to bring Argentina star Diego Maradona to the club, followed in 1983 by his compatriot and mentor César Luis Menotti as head coach.[9]

However, besides Real Sociedad (who were weakened when midfielder Perico Alonso moved to Barça after their second title), it was also a strong period for Athletic Bilbao, who developed a group of talented but highly aggressive and physical players under coach Javier Clemente.[11][9][62] Athletic took the title in 1983 (their first championship for 27 years)[11][65] just ahead of Real Madrid,[66][67] while Barcelona defeated their biggest rivals from the capital in the cup final.[11] It was clear that the following season could be a close affair between the three clubs, with the added elements of a clash in style and personality between Menotti and Clemente,[9][62] who were not afraid of expressing their opinions to the press,[11][9][68][69] and the pervading feeling in Barcelona that their 1982 title bid had been ruined by a serious knee injury to influential midfielder Bernd Schuster sustained in a challenge from Athletic defender Andoni Goikoetxea.[70][11][9][68][33] Barcelona too had a reputation for 'hard' play which at times could descend into outright violence, and the club had received fines from UEFA for their conduct in recent European matches including the 1982 European Super Cup.[71]

Maradona and Goiko edit

 
Javier Clemente put together an Athletic side who were noted for their aggressive style

The season would be remembered for two of the most notorious incidents in Spanish football history, amidst a backdrop of serious tension in society, much of it due to terrorism committed by Basque separatists ETA.[11][70][9] The league schedule paired Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao at Camp Nou in the fourth round of fixtures in September 1983, and the home side were two goals ahead by the interval; early in the second half, Goikoetxea was angered by a hard tackle from Schuster, prompting Maradona to suggest that he calm down,[70] but a short time later, Maradona dribbled into space in midfield and was tackled crudely from behind by Goikoetxea, who appeared to make little attempt to play the ball and snapped Maradona's ankle.[11][9][68][72][33] Despite the recklessness of the challenge, Goikoetxea was only cautioned. Barcelona went on to win 4–0, but lost Maradona until January 1984.[68] The Athletic bus was stoned as it left the city.[70] Goikoetxea, from then on frequently referred to as the Butcher of Bilbao after the incident became widely publicised,[70] was given an 18-match ban,[9] soon reduced to nine then six,[11][68] meaning he returned in November, and his importance to the team was underlined by the fact those were the only league matches he missed all season.[73]

Neither player took part in either leg of the autumn 1983 Supercopa de España between the sides, won 3–2 by Barcelona on aggregate,[11] but both were back in place for the league game at San Mamés in late January, in which Maradona, still recovering from the injury, scored both his team's goals in their 2–1 victory.[40][9][72] However, points dropped by the Catalans in other matches meant they were never able to pull ahead of Real Madrid or Athletic,[74] and in one of the tightest finishes in the competition's history, the Basques retained the title by dint of a superior head-to-head record over the Merengues, with both a point ahead of Barcelona in the final table,[11][9] leading their followers to ponder how many they might have collected with Maradona available and fully fit;[72] they would have only required one point to overtake Athletic on head-to-head having beaten them twice.

Cup final edit

A week later, the 1984 Copa del Rey Final brought Athletic and Barcelona together at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium for their fifth meeting of the campaign. In a predictably physical game, Athletic won 1–0 through Endika to clinch the double for the first time since 1956.[75][76] Upon the final whistle, Maradona (who had been insulted by Clemente in the build-up and was fouled repeatedly during the match, particularly by his marker Iñigo Liceranzu)[11][72][77] was goaded by Miguel Sola[9] and reacted by launching a flying kick. Several players from both teams waded in, including Goikoetxea as well as Migueli, Miguel de Andrés, Patxi Salinas, Paco Clos and others, and a chaotic brawl ensued.[75][11][9][72][76] All the aforementioned were sanctioned,[78] further verbal insults were exchanged by both camps,[9] and Maradona never played for the club again, transferring to Napoli for another world record fee.[9][62]

Aftermath edit

The following campaign brought change for both clubs. At that time, the Supercopa was given automatically to any 'double' winners (rather than meeting the cup runners-up again, as was the case in later eras), thus Athletic were given the 1984 honour and another potentially hostile clash between the sides early in the season was avoided. Barcelona, having replaced Maradona and Menotti with Scottish striker Steve Archibald and English manager Terry Venables,[62] finally won the league title. Athletic reached the cup final again but lost to Atlético Madrid, and they would not reach another for a generation as a gradual decline set in.[65]

The 1986 Copa semi-finals again saw Athletic and Barcelona drawn together, and the second leg at San Mamés (won 2–1 by Barcelona)[79] saw incidents of objects being thrown by the crowd, a pitch invasion and insults made to the referee by Bilbao staff members, resulting in their stadium being closed for the next fixture, the first time this had occurred;[80] however, the hostile environment and disorder resulted largely from anger at the decisions and behaviour of the officials (who appeared to miss a foul during a Barça goal and failed to award a penalty to the home side)[79][80] rather than hostility towards the opposition.

A month later, Barcelona made it to the 1986 European Cup Final held on Spanish soil, but unexpectedly lost to Steaua București. They had just confirmed the signing of Athletic's goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta[81] who would be an important figure in the years to come. Thereafter, both clubs suffered as Real Madrid, led by 'La Quinta del Buitre', won five championships in a row.[82]

1990s edit

By the 1990s, the clubs were no longer competing at the same level of performance. Under Johan Cruyff as coach, Barcelona introduced innovative methods to be used at all levels of the club, which would still be in effect decades later.[83][84] In addition to four successive league titles, they won another Cup Winners' Cup in 1989 then finally achieved their aim of winning the European Cup in 1992 (defeating Sampdoria on both occasions); the Dream Team built by Cruyff included several Basques, such as Valverde (whose next move was to Bilbao and later coached both clubs),[85] the former Athletic players Alexanko, Zubizarreta and Julio Salinas, and a winger known as Andoni Goikoetxea (a different man from the defender who had injured Maradona). Athletic, who finished above Barcelona only once following their double win – in 1988 – continued to produce some good players, with Julen Guerrero considered the best of the era,[86][87] but usually had to content themselves with finishing mid-table. In 1991, a Barcelona team containing six Basque players defeated Javier Clemente's Athletic 6–0 in Bilbao, though it was one of the foreign stars who made the difference: Bulgarian Hristo Stoichkov scored four.[88]

Following the 1996 Bosman ruling, the gap widened further; with no limitations on signing players from the European Union, clubs such as Barcelona could and did bring in the best talent from across the continent[89] – their squad in 1999, their centenary season included eight Dutch internationals as well as three Brazilians, an Argentine, a Portuguese and five who had represented Spain. Both clubs competed in the 1998–99 UEFA Champions League group stage after the previous domestic league was won by Barça with Athletic runners-up (in their centenary year), marking their best finish since 1984 which they have not matched since as the league took on an increasingly international profile, becoming the strongest in Europe by the end of the turn of the millennium.

21st century edit

Entering the 21st century, Athletic endured some struggles with relegation while Barcelona also had a relatively disappointing period but then recovered and continued to grow increasingly more rich, popular and successful,[90] attracting several of the world's top players and drawing among the biggest crowds in Europe to their stadium.[91][92] Under Frank Rijkaard, Barcelona won the Champions League in 2006 while also developing a highly talented group from their Cruyff-inspired youth system who would lead them to even greater success including three more continental titles, led by forward Lionel Messi, who broke virtually all of Zarra's longstanding records.[2][51][52][49][53][50] At international level, the revived Basque and Catalan representative teams (described as State of Origin squads)[93] met four times between 2006 and 2015, with several Barcelona and Athletic players involved each time.[94][95][96][97]

 
A scene from the 2009 Supercopa de España at Camp Nou

Among the many Blaugrana successes were three fairly comfortable Copa del Rey final wins over Athletic Bilbao: 2009 (4–1 in Valencia),[5] 2012 (3–0 in Madrid),[9][5] and 2015 (3–1 in Barcelona).[98][15][16] All the finals included the pre-match Spanish national anthem being booed and whistled by both sets of supporters,[99] which eventually drew fines for the clubs from the Spanish Sports Council in 2015.[100][8] During the post-match celebrations in both 2009 and 2012, Barça captains Carles Puyol and Xavi endeared themselves to the Athletic fans by parading the Ikurriña (Basque flag) alongside their Catalan Senyera[101][102] (in contrast to Andrés Iniesta who was unpopular due to accusations of exaggerating a foul leading to a red card in a league match),[33] while another connection between the squads in 2012 was the admiration openly expressed by Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola for the tactical methods of Marcelo Bielsa, his counterpart at Athletic Bilbao.[103] However, some of that goodwill was eroded in 2015 when Neymar indulged in 'showboating' in the closing stages of the match including flicking the ball over his opponent's head, which enraged the Athletic players as they considered it to be unsportsmanlike conduct.[104][8]

 
Lionel Messi is the fixture's all-time top goalscorer, among his many other records

Due to Barcelona also winning the league title in 2009 and 2015 (as well as the Champions League in both those years to achieve trebles),[105] the subsequent Supercopa finals were also played between the sides; in the first, it was another straightforward win for the Blaugrana (5–1 on aggregate), but Athletic surprised many with a 4–0 home win in the first leg of the latter tie, eventually securing a 5–1 victory of their own.[8][16] It was their first trophy of any kind since 1984,[85] having endured a painful defeat to Atlético Madrid in the 2012 UEFA Europa League Final in addition to the losses to Barcelona, and so was celebrated with great enthusiasm by the supporters who crowded the streets of Bilbao city centre in their thousands for an open top bus parade normally reserved for much greater triumphs.[106]

Messi was a scorer in each of those five finals,[2] with his first in the 2015 Copa del Rey considered one of the best ever in the competition.[98][16] Combined with another three two-legged cup ties – all won by Barcelona – it was one of Europe's most-played fixtures in the decade with 33 individual matches played between 2008–09 and 2017–18. They met in the cup once again in 2020, this time in a single match quarter-final in Bilbao after the Copa del Rey format was changed. The adjustment produced an atypical result as Athletic won 1–0, with Barcelona having no opportunity to overturn this deficit at home as in previous years.[107]

The league results demonstrated a consistently wide gulf between the two clubs, with Athletic collecting no points at all from visits to the Camp Nou between 2004 and September 2018, when they finally secured a draw,[108] and only winning twice at San Mamés in the same period.[109][110] A 0–0 draw in February 2019 ended a sequence of 45 league matches since November 1996 with at least one goal being scored in the fixture.[111]

In 2017, Barcelona chose to appoint Ernesto Valverde as manager after four years in charge of Athletic Bilbao,[85] despite his inability to arrest the poor sequence against the Blaugrana;[7] he was sacked in January 2020 due to a poor run of results,[112] which included a 1–0 defeat in Bilbao on the opening day of the 2019–20 La Liga season.[113] As mentioned above, Athletic also eliminated Barcelona from that season's Copa del Rey by the same scoreline,[107] and the following year (by which time neither the winning coach in that tie Gaizka Garitano nor his defeated counterpart Quique Setién were in the dugout, replaced by Marcelino and Ronald Koeman respectively) they met in both the 2021 Supercopa de España Final, won by Athletic after extra time (at the end of which Messi was sent off for violent conduct for the first red card of his club career),[114][16] and then in the 2021 Copa del Rey Final, won 4–0 by Barcelona in a dominant performance from the outset, Messi scoring twice.[115] By the start of the 2021–22 season the Argentinian had left Barça amid a financial crisis[116] and when the teams were drawn together in the Copa del Rey once again in January 2022, it was Athletic who eliminated the holders to progress.[117] Another cup tie in 2024 produced the same outcome, with Athletic's three victories the only occasions that Barcelona had been eliminated prior to the semi-final stage of the competition since 2010.[118]

Off-field events of 2017 edit

In October 2017, a referendum was held in Catalonia on the subject of the region becoming independent from Spain, which the organisers claimed had resulted in the majority voting for independence; the process was declared illegal by the Spanish state both before and after it was held, with widespread disorder on polling day including violence by security forces against civilians in the city of Barcelona;[119][120] in the midst of this, FC Barcelona took the decision to close their stadium for a league fixture scheduled for the same day after a request to postpone it was rejected by the LFP – the match against Las Palmas was played behind closed doors.[121][122]

Many of Barcelona's supporters within Catalonia, and several members of the club's hierarchy,[123] are in favour of the region becoming independent from Spain,[124][125] with banners and other slogans to this effect frequently seen at matches.[123] Their visit to Bilbao at the end of that month was one of the few occasions when they were not met with open hostility from opposition fans for their perceived role as the club of the independence movement.[126]

Were Catalonia to gain independence, the consequence for its clubs could be expulsion from the Spanish system,[125][123][28][124] as stated on more than one occasion by the league's president Javier Tebas,[28][127] potentially leading to Barcelona and Espanyol competing in a 'Catalan League' alongside very small clubs from the current third and fourth Spanish tiers.[123][28] FIFA did not comment on the "potential future scenario".[124] Similarly, Basque independence is an issue which continues to occupy the political scene in that region,[128] with nationalist parties consistently receiving high percentages in elections. As with Barcelona, independence is a concept which is favoured by many of the Athletic Bilbao supporters in a wider context,[37] but its implementation could result in their club being the largest in a hypothetical 'Basque League' with only a small number of professional teams, as well as bringing to an end their proud record of longevity competing in the Spanish league.

For Athletic, however, the more conventional danger of relegation (which has not concerned Barcelona for many years) could end that sequence sooner. The club's poor performance in the 2017–18 and 2018–19 seasons[129] recalled more serious concerns over losing their league place a decade earlier.[130] Due to so few eligible players being available under the limitations of their policy, they cannot simply buy their way out of trouble in a bad run of form.[21] Previous surveys of supporters indicated the vast majority would rather see the team relegated than abandon their self-imposed restrictions on players.[131]

Head-to-head statistics edit

As of 3 March 2024
Competition Pld ATH D BAR ATG BAG
La Liga[132][109][133] 186 60 32 94 259 352
Copa del Rey[134][14][a] 45 15 6 24 59 77
Supercopa de España[b] 7 3 1 3 11 11
UEFA Cup 2 1 1 0 4 3
Total in official games[c][d] 240 79 40 121 333 443
1941 FEF President's Cup 2 1 0 1 5 6
Copa de Oro Argentina 1 0 0 1 5 4
Friendly
[citation needed]		 53 23 7 23 126 110
Total 296 103 47 146 469 563

Head-to-head ranking in La Liga (1929–2023) edit

P. 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6
7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7
8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9
10 10 10 10 10 10
11 11 11 11 11
12 12 12 12 12 12 12
13 13 13
14 14
15 15
16 16
17 17
18
19
20
21
22

• Total: Athletic Bilbao with 17 higher finishes, Barcelona with 75 higher finishes (as of the end of the 2022–23 season).

Notable results edit

Highest scoring games edit

13 goals:

12 goals:

  • Athletic Bilbao 7–5 Barcelona, January 1940, La Liga[138][6]

9 goals:

  • Barcelona 6–3 Athletic Bilbao, December 1930, La Liga[139]
  • Athletic Bilbao 6–3 Barcelona, November 1941, La Liga[140]

8 goals:

  • Athletic Bilbao 3–5 Barcelona, March 1935, La Liga[141][40]

Biggest wins edit

11 goal margin:

  • Athletic Bilbao 12–1 Barcelona, February 1931, La Liga[3][39]

7 goal margin:

  • Barcelona 7–0 Athletic Bilbao, February 2001, La Liga[142][87]

6 goal margin:

  • Barcelona 0–6 Athletic Bilbao, October 1945, La Liga[143]
  • Athletic Bilbao 0–6 Barcelona, March 1991, La Liga[144][6][40][88]
  • Barcelona 6–0 Athletic Bilbao, January 2016, La Liga[145]

5 goal margin:

  • Athletic Bilbao 6–1 Barcelona, December 1933, La Liga[146]
  • Barcelona 5–0 Athletic Bilbao, December 1949, La Liga[147]

Personnel at both clubs edit

Players edit

 
Ernesto Valverde has played for and coached both clubs.

Over their long histories, only sixteen players have played for both clubs in La Liga (others did so in the years prior to its introduction, including Félix Sesúmaga and Juan Irízar):[148][149][150]

Managers edit

Four coaches have been at the helm of both clubs:[151][152][153][150]

Women's rivalry edit

Athletic Club Femenino and FC Barcelona Femení are two of the top teams in the Spanish women's league. Between 2009–10 and 2019–20, both always finished among the top five in the table with Athletic the team falling below those places in 2021, whereas in the same period Barcelona became established as one of the best teams in the world: they lost only two domestic league matches in four seasons, won two UEFA Women's Champions League titles and supplied eight members of the Spain squad which won the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup[154] (plus others who did not take part), with stars from across the world enhancing that group. In contrast, Athletic adhere to the club's Basque player policy and have experienced a similar decline in their stature to their male counterparts relative to the continued progression, professionalisation and globalisation of women's football, and the arrival of Real Madrid Femenino on the scene in 2020 ensured there would be another strong and well-financed opponent in contention for trophies[154] (although not ready to challenge Barcelona's dominance).

One of the most important matches played between the clubs was played on 5 May 2013 at San Mamés: in a winner-takes-all game Athletic needed only one point to win their fifth title, but Barcelona beat the Basques 2–1 to ensure their own second championship.[155] In 2016, it was Athletic who finished as champions, one point ahead of Barça.[156] In the Copa de la Reina (won 9 times by Barcelona as of 2023, while Athletic have never done so), there has been one final played between the clubs, with the Catalans winning on penalties in 2014.[157]

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ Does not include the 1902 Copa de la Coronación Final in which Athletic competed as part of Club Biscaya.
  2. ^ Does not include results in the unofficial 1941 FEF President's Cup or the 1945 Copa de Oro Argentina (see below).
  3. ^ The clubs never met in the defunct Copa Eva Duarte or Copa de la Liga.
  4. ^ The totals do not include two fixtures played in the Champions Tournament of 1927–28 (Barcelona 3–1 Athletic[135] and Athletic Bilbao 0–1 Barcelona),[136] part of the Liga Española de Football, a predecessor of the Spanish league which was never completed. Athletic Bilbao's archive refers to the matches in the competition as friendlies.[137]

References edit

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External links edit

  • Historia de los Athletic-Barça en imágenes (History of Athletic-Barça in images), Mundo Deportivo, 2013

April 11, 2024
athletic, barcelona, clásico, refers, football, matches, between, athletic, bilbao, barcelona, clubs, competing, spanish, football, competitions, locationspainteamsathletic, bilbaofc, barcelonafirst, meeting2, 1920copa, barcelona, athletic, bilbaolatest, meeti. The Athletic Barcelona clasico refers to football matches between Athletic Bilbao and FC Barcelona two clubs competing in Spanish football competitions Athletic Barcelona clasicoLocationSpainTeamsAthletic BilbaoFC BarcelonaFirst meeting2 May 1920Copa del Rey Barcelona 2 0 Athletic BilbaoLatest meeting3 March 2024La LigaAthletic Bilbao 0 0 BarcelonaStadiumsSan Mames Bilbao Camp Nou Barcelona StatisticsMeetings total240 official Most winsBarcelona 121 official Most player appearancesAgustin Gainza 42 1 Top scorerLionel Messi 29 2 Largest victoryAthletic Bilbao 12 1 Barcelona 1931 3 Athletic Bilbao BarcelonaThe two clubs are among the oldest in the country and have participated in every season of the national championship La Liga Owing to this as well as contesting nine finals of the Copa del Rey 4 5 in which they are the two most successful clubs 6 it is the third most played football fixture in Spain after the meetings of each with the third constant member of the league Real Madrid Due to this it has been referred to as a Clasico 4 6 7 8 the modern Spanish term for a significant and traditional fixture a classic which is not a derbi based on geographical proximity The relationship between Athletic and Barcelona has historically been fairly healthy aside from certain periods when competitiveness became hostility such as in the early 1980s 9 10 11 By the turn of the 21st century the rivalry had largely become a historical concept due to the disparity in the fortunes of the clubs and the lack of a local element 12 13 but their frequent meetings in matches of importance including four Copa del Rey finals 14 15 and three Supercopa fixtures in a dozen seasons restored some relevancy to the fixture 16 Contents 1 Profile of clubs 2 History 2 1 La Liga beginnings and Franco era 2 2 1977 UEFA Cup tie 2 3 Violence in 1983 84 2 3 1 Background 2 3 2 Maradona and Goiko 2 3 3 Cup final 2 3 4 Aftermath 2 4 1990s 2 5 21st century 2 6 Off field events of 2017 3 Head to head statistics 3 1 Head to head ranking in La Liga 1929 2023 4 Notable results 4 1 Highest scoring games 4 2 Biggest wins 5 Personnel at both clubs 5 1 Players 5 2 Managers 6 Women s rivalry 7 See also 8 Notes 9 References 10 External linksProfile of clubs edit nbsp Athletic left and Barcelona playing in change kits in the flag colours of their respective Basque and Catalan identities 2014 17 Athletic Bilbao and Barcelona are both owned by their socios members who elect a president to oversee club affairs 18 19 20 They also place great importance in developing local players through their cantera youth systems 21 22 23 24 and were among the last major clubs to adopt a commercial sponsor logo on their jerseys Athletic doing so in 2008 and Barcelona three years later 25 26 7 As the most successful clubs in their native regions the Basque Country for Athletic and Catalonia for Barcelona 11 and seen by many of their supporters as the sporting embodiment of the native population the clubs have important and similar roles in the national football culture 17 with Athletic s adherence to a unique Basque only player policy 12 and Barcelona s efforts to become the world s best while maintaining and promoting a distinct Catalan identity exemplifying two diverse approaches to being a sporting symbol of their homelands Barcelona in particular have a far more intense rivalry with Real Madrid perceived to represent the dominant Castile region and the Spanish royal family 27 sometimes known as the Gran Clasico it has become simply El Clasico they also contest a local derby in Greater Barcelona against Espanyol which too has political aspects 28 Athletic Bilbao s attitude towards Real Madrid is also more frosty than their relationship with Barcelona due to the differences in the political and cultural identity of the clubs and they have a significant local rivalry in the Basque autonomous region with Real Sociedad 29 30 History editThe date of the first meeting between the two clubs is a matter of debate The final of the 1902 Copa de la Coronacion was played between Barcelona and Club Biscaya a combined team of Athletic Club and Bilbao FC which merged the following year Biscaya won the match 2 1 Athletic regard themselves as the successor to the Biscaya team and the Copa Coronacion as the first edition of the Copa del Rey including it with later wins in their official honours 31 However the Spanish Federation gives 1903 as the commencement date for the Copa del Rey disregarding the previous year s tournament in its records so it has never been fully established if they regard Biscaya and Athletic as the same club or not 15 Barcelona s team in the final also included players from Hispania AC meaning theirs was also something of a combined force rather than a single club entity 32 Athletic and Barcelona were both successful in the early years of the national cup between 1903 and 1920 the Basques won seven Copas and the Catalans three including wins for both in the 1910 edition where two competitions were held both considered official retrospectively but they did not face each other at any stage of the tournament until their first undisputed meeting in the 1920 Final held in Gijon which Barcelona won 2 0 14 5 33 In the following edition Barcelona withdrew in protest after the federation changed the venue of the final to Bilbao and it was the home club who eventually took the trophy 34 Regional qualifying leagues were introduced and Athletic became the dominant club in the Biscay Championship from 1913 while Barca were the strongest in the Catalan football championship its earliest version was held in 1901 In that period the two clubs introduced measures which led to them becoming important symbols of their respective homelands 35 36 Athletic implementing a policy of using only local players in response to being criticised by opponents for selecting too many foreigners 37 38 and Barca adopting Catalan as their official language In that era matches were played by representative teams from each of the regional leagues including several fixtures between Catalonia and the Basque Country La Liga beginnings and Franco era edit The teams did not meet again prior to the establishment in 1929 of a national professional league championship La Liga which would see them face off regularly and become rivals for the title 6 Barcelona won the first edition but failed to make much impact thereafter suffering the humiliation of a 12 1 defeat at the hands of Athletic Bilbao in 1931 Bata scoring seven in what still ranks as the biggest win in the history of the competition 3 39 40 33 and also losing the 1932 Copa del Rey Final to the Lions 41 4 5 Athletic were champions four times in the following seven seasons up to the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 nbsp Laszlo Kubala had such an impact on Barcelona that his statue now stands outside the club s stadiumIn broad terms Catalonia and most parts of the Basque Country fought on the losing Republican side in the conflict and the victorious Nationalist regime soon introduced measures against regional languages and cultures 42 In 1941 football teams with foreign names and symbols were required to amend them to a Spanish equivalent 43 44 thus Club de Futbol Barcelona and Atletico de Bilbao became the official titles of the historic clubs and the Catalan flag was replaced with the Spanish on Barcelona s crest 11 the short lived Republic had done the same with Royalist symbols in the previous decade altering the names of clubs such as Real Madrid and Real Sociedad and removing crowns from their crests This oppressive centralist atmosphere in society contributed to the clubs becoming even more important to the local populations the stadium being one of the few places where they could speak their language and express themselves freely 27 In this regard the clubs had much in common and meetings between them were akin to an international fixture with the regional representative teams also having been disbanded In the domestic league the performances of Barcelona and Athletic were comparable until the 1960s with the Basques winning only two titles during the period from 1939 to 1960 compared to seven for the Catalans but both finishing near the top of the table most years Athletic won seven cups to Barcelona s six although the finals between them in 1942 and 1953 both went the way of the Blaugrana 4 5 15 The Barca coach in the latter match Ferdinand Daucik soon took over at Athletic and won trophies with both clubs Daucik had moved to Spain at the same time as his son in law and the club s star of the period the Hungarian Laszlo Kubala who was the first of several foreign imports to make an impact although the vast majority of players would remain Spanish until much later winning the league several times plus two Inter Cities Fairs Cups and a Latin Cup and enduring a narrow defeat in the 1961 European Cup Final he suffered a serious knee injury inflicted by Athletic s Eneko Arieta in 1954 33 During his stay the club also opened their massive ambitious Camp Nou stadium 45 the cost of which would weaken the club economically for many years 46 Real Madrid had moved to a larger ground a few years earlier and they too signed talent from Eastern Europe and South America as well as from around Spain which propelled them to further domestic and continental success with the positive international exposure pleasing the regime 47 Athletic had a talented forward line in that era spearheaded by prolific striker Zarra 48 who set multiple goalscoring records 49 50 including most goals in a season most overall league goals 51 most hat tricks 52 most goals by an opposition player against Real Madrid 53 and most goals in the Athletic vs Barcelona fixture 54 However just prior to the introduction of regular continental competitions he and his peers passed their peak and from that time on the club were unable to consistently compete with their old foes for honours They continued to use only Basque players and chose to redevelop their San Mames stadium rather than constructing a replacement with much of the funding sourced from the transfer of their defender Jesus Garay to Barcelona in 1960 55 1977 UEFA Cup tie edit nbsp Athletic eliminated Barcelona and Johan Cruyff during their 1976 77 UEFA Cup runAthletic and Barcelona both took part in the 1976 77 UEFA Cup having won only one league title between them in almost two decades Barca in 1974 and both eager for glory in Europe They were drawn together in the quarter finals it was the first time Athletic had played another Spanish team in a continental tournament The two clubs had already played both league fixtures that season the Catalans winning 3 1 in Bilbao and the Basques claiming a 2 0 victory at the Camp Nou ten days before their UEFA Cup tie 56 The tie was played in an unusually friendly atmosphere due to the similar regional identity of the two clubs whose supporters were excited by the prospect of a brighter future for their respective territories after the death of dictator General Franco and the weakening of his regime By that point the clubs original names and identity were restored 43 57 In the tie Athletic held on for a 2 1 lead at San Mames and led by the same scoreline by half time in the second leg thanks to a brace of away goals from Javier Irureta requiring Barca to score three more times in the last 45 minutes They could only manage one through Johan Cruyff their biggest foreign star of the era 33 so the Lions qualified for the penultimate stage of a European tournament for the first time 58 59 60 They reached the final but lost to Juventus 61 Violence in 1983 84 edit nbsp Diego Maradona right during his time at BarcelonaBackground edit By the early 1980s Barcelona were becoming desperate for major success They had still not won La Liga since 1974 62 and in addition to Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid who usually had talented squads Real Sociedad from the Basque city of San Sebastian had assembled a strong team composed entirely of local homegrown talent who finished above Barca in 1979 and continued to improve being runners up the following year before winning back to back titles in 1981 and 1982 overtaking Barcelona in the closing stages of the latter campaign 63 11 The Catalans hired famous coaches Helenio Herrera and Udo Lattek but were left unsatisfied even with Copa victories in 1978 and 1981 after overcoming Athletic in the semi finals 64 followed by UEFA Cup Winners Cups in 1979 and 1982 11 They had paid a world record transfer fee to bring Argentina star Diego Maradona to the club followed in 1983 by his compatriot and mentor Cesar Luis Menotti as head coach 9 However besides Real Sociedad who were weakened when midfielder Perico Alonso moved to Barca after their second title it was also a strong period for Athletic Bilbao who developed a group of talented but highly aggressive and physical players under coach Javier Clemente 11 9 62 Athletic took the title in 1983 their first championship for 27 years 11 65 just ahead of Real Madrid 66 67 while Barcelona defeated their biggest rivals from the capital in the cup final 11 It was clear that the following season could be a close affair between the three clubs with the added elements of a clash in style and personality between Menotti and Clemente 9 62 who were not afraid of expressing their opinions to the press 11 9 68 69 and the pervading feeling in Barcelona that their 1982 title bid had been ruined by a serious knee injury to influential midfielder Bernd Schuster sustained in a challenge from Athletic defender Andoni Goikoetxea 70 11 9 68 33 Barcelona too had a reputation for hard play which at times could descend into outright violence and the club had received fines from UEFA for their conduct in recent European matches including the 1982 European Super Cup 71 Maradona and Goiko edit nbsp Javier Clemente put together an Athletic side who were noted for their aggressive styleThe season would be remembered for two of the most notorious incidents in Spanish football history amidst a backdrop of serious tension in society much of it due to terrorism committed by Basque separatists ETA 11 70 9 The league schedule paired Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao at Camp Nou in the fourth round of fixtures in September 1983 and the home side were two goals ahead by the interval early in the second half Goikoetxea was angered by a hard tackle from Schuster prompting Maradona to suggest that he calm down 70 but a short time later Maradona dribbled into space in midfield and was tackled crudely from behind by Goikoetxea who appeared to make little attempt to play the ball and snapped Maradona s ankle 11 9 68 72 33 Despite the recklessness of the challenge Goikoetxea was only cautioned Barcelona went on to win 4 0 but lost Maradona until January 1984 68 The Athletic bus was stoned as it left the city 70 Goikoetxea from then on frequently referred to as the Butcher of Bilbao after the incident became widely publicised 70 was given an 18 match ban 9 soon reduced to nine then six 11 68 meaning he returned in November and his importance to the team was underlined by the fact those were the only league matches he missed all season 73 Neither player took part in either leg of the autumn 1983 Supercopa de Espana between the sides won 3 2 by Barcelona on aggregate 11 but both were back in place for the league game at San Mames in late January in which Maradona still recovering from the injury scored both his team s goals in their 2 1 victory 40 9 72 However points dropped by the Catalans in other matches meant they were never able to pull ahead of Real Madrid or Athletic 74 and in one of the tightest finishes in the competition s history the Basques retained the title by dint of a superior head to head record over the Merengues with both a point ahead of Barcelona in the final table 11 9 leading their followers to ponder how many they might have collected with Maradona available and fully fit 72 they would have only required one point to overtake Athletic on head to head having beaten them twice Cup final edit A week later the 1984 Copa del Rey Final brought Athletic and Barcelona together at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium for their fifth meeting of the campaign In a predictably physical game Athletic won 1 0 through Endika to clinch the double for the first time since 1956 75 76 Upon the final whistle Maradona who had been insulted by Clemente in the build up and was fouled repeatedly during the match particularly by his marker Inigo Liceranzu 11 72 77 was goaded by Miguel Sola 9 and reacted by launching a flying kick Several players from both teams waded in including Goikoetxea as well as Migueli Miguel de Andres Patxi Salinas Paco Clos and others and a chaotic brawl ensued 75 11 9 72 76 All the aforementioned were sanctioned 78 further verbal insults were exchanged by both camps 9 and Maradona never played for the club again transferring to Napoli for another world record fee 9 62 Aftermath edit The following campaign brought change for both clubs At that time the Supercopa was given automatically to any double winners rather than meeting the cup runners up again as was the case in later eras thus Athletic were given the 1984 honour and another potentially hostile clash between the sides early in the season was avoided Barcelona having replaced Maradona and Menotti with Scottish striker Steve Archibald and English manager Terry Venables 62 finally won the league title Athletic reached the cup final again but lost to Atletico Madrid and they would not reach another for a generation as a gradual decline set in 65 The 1986 Copa semi finals again saw Athletic and Barcelona drawn together and the second leg at San Mames won 2 1 by Barcelona 79 saw incidents of objects being thrown by the crowd a pitch invasion and insults made to the referee by Bilbao staff members resulting in their stadium being closed for the next fixture the first time this had occurred 80 however the hostile environment and disorder resulted largely from anger at the decisions and behaviour of the officials who appeared to miss a foul during a Barca goal and failed to award a penalty to the home side 79 80 rather than hostility towards the opposition A month later Barcelona made it to the 1986 European Cup Final held on Spanish soil but unexpectedly lost to Steaua București They had just confirmed the signing of Athletic s goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta 81 who would be an important figure in the years to come Thereafter both clubs suffered as Real Madrid led by La Quinta del Buitre won five championships in a row 82 1990s edit By the 1990s the clubs were no longer competing at the same level of performance Under Johan Cruyff as coach Barcelona introduced innovative methods to be used at all levels of the club which would still be in effect decades later 83 84 In addition to four successive league titles they won another Cup Winners Cup in 1989 then finally achieved their aim of winning the European Cup in 1992 defeating Sampdoria on both occasions the Dream Team built by Cruyff included several Basques such as Valverde whose next move was to Bilbao and later coached both clubs 85 the former Athletic players Alexanko Zubizarreta and Julio Salinas and a winger known as Andoni Goikoetxea a different man from the defender who had injured Maradona Athletic who finished above Barcelona only once following their double win in 1988 continued to produce some good players with Julen Guerrero considered the best of the era 86 87 but usually had to content themselves with finishing mid table In 1991 a Barcelona team containing six Basque players defeated Javier Clemente s Athletic 6 0 in Bilbao though it was one of the foreign stars who made the difference Bulgarian Hristo Stoichkov scored four 88 Following the 1996 Bosman ruling the gap widened further with no limitations on signing players from the European Union clubs such as Barcelona could and did bring in the best talent from across the continent 89 their squad in 1999 their centenary season included eight Dutch internationals as well as three Brazilians an Argentine a Portuguese and five who had represented Spain Both clubs competed in the 1998 99 UEFA Champions League group stage after the previous domestic league was won by Barca with Athletic runners up in their centenary year marking their best finish since 1984 which they have not matched since as the league took on an increasingly international profile becoming the strongest in Europe by the end of the turn of the millennium 21st century edit Entering the 21st century Athletic endured some struggles with relegation while Barcelona also had a relatively disappointing period but then recovered and continued to grow increasingly more rich popular and successful 90 attracting several of the world s top players and drawing among the biggest crowds in Europe to their stadium 91 92 Under Frank Rijkaard Barcelona won the Champions League in 2006 while also developing a highly talented group from their Cruyff inspired youth system who would lead them to even greater success including three more continental titles led by forward Lionel Messi who broke virtually all of Zarra s longstanding records 2 51 52 49 53 50 At international level the revived Basque and Catalan representative teams described as State of Origin squads 93 met four times between 2006 and 2015 with several Barcelona and Athletic players involved each time 94 95 96 97 nbsp A scene from the 2009 Supercopa de Espana at Camp NouAmong the many Blaugrana successes were three fairly comfortable Copa del Rey final wins over Athletic Bilbao 2009 4 1 in Valencia 5 2012 3 0 in Madrid 9 5 and 2015 3 1 in Barcelona 98 15 16 All the finals included the pre match Spanish national anthem being booed and whistled by both sets of supporters 99 which eventually drew fines for the clubs from the Spanish Sports Council in 2015 100 8 During the post match celebrations in both 2009 and 2012 Barca captains Carles Puyol and Xavi endeared themselves to the Athletic fans by parading the Ikurrina Basque flag alongside their Catalan Senyera 101 102 in contrast to Andres Iniesta who was unpopular due to accusations of exaggerating a foul leading to a red card in a league match 33 while another connection between the squads in 2012 was the admiration openly expressed by Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola for the tactical methods of Marcelo Bielsa his counterpart at Athletic Bilbao 103 However some of that goodwill was eroded in 2015 when Neymar indulged in showboating in the closing stages of the match including flicking the ball over his opponent s head which enraged the Athletic players as they considered it to be unsportsmanlike conduct 104 8 nbsp Lionel Messi is the fixture s all time top goalscorer among his many other recordsDue to Barcelona also winning the league title in 2009 and 2015 as well as the Champions League in both those years to achieve trebles 105 the subsequent Supercopa finals were also played between the sides in the first it was another straightforward win for the Blaugrana 5 1 on aggregate but Athletic surprised many with a 4 0 home win in the first leg of the latter tie eventually securing a 5 1 victory of their own 8 16 It was their first trophy of any kind since 1984 85 having endured a painful defeat to Atletico Madrid in the 2012 UEFA Europa League Final in addition to the losses to Barcelona and so was celebrated with great enthusiasm by the supporters who crowded the streets of Bilbao city centre in their thousands for an open top bus parade normally reserved for much greater triumphs 106 Messi was a scorer in each of those five finals 2 with his first in the 2015 Copa del Rey considered one of the best ever in the competition 98 16 Combined with another three two legged cup ties all won by Barcelona it was one of Europe s most played fixtures in the decade with 33 individual matches played between 2008 09 and 2017 18 They met in the cup once again in 2020 this time in a single match quarter final in Bilbao after the Copa del Rey format was changed The adjustment produced an atypical result as Athletic won 1 0 with Barcelona having no opportunity to overturn this deficit at home as in previous years 107 The league results demonstrated a consistently wide gulf between the two clubs with Athletic collecting no points at all from visits to the Camp Nou between 2004 and September 2018 when they finally secured a draw 108 and only winning twice at San Mames in the same period 109 110 A 0 0 draw in February 2019 ended a sequence of 45 league matches since November 1996 with at least one goal being scored in the fixture 111 In 2017 Barcelona chose to appoint Ernesto Valverde as manager after four years in charge of Athletic Bilbao 85 despite his inability to arrest the poor sequence against the Blaugrana 7 he was sacked in January 2020 due to a poor run of results 112 which included a 1 0 defeat in Bilbao on the opening day of the 2019 20 La Liga season 113 As mentioned above Athletic also eliminated Barcelona from that season s Copa del Rey by the same scoreline 107 and the following year by which time neither the winning coach in that tie Gaizka Garitano nor his defeated counterpart Quique Setien were in the dugout replaced by Marcelino and Ronald Koeman respectively they met in both the 2021 Supercopa de Espana Final won by Athletic after extra time at the end of which Messi was sent off for violent conduct for the first red card of his club career 114 16 and then in the 2021 Copa del Rey Final won 4 0 by Barcelona in a dominant performance from the outset Messi scoring twice 115 By the start of the 2021 22 season the Argentinian had left Barca amid a financial crisis 116 and when the teams were drawn together in the Copa del Rey once again in January 2022 it was Athletic who eliminated the holders to progress 117 Another cup tie in 2024 produced the same outcome with Athletic s three victories the only occasions that Barcelona had been eliminated prior to the semi final stage of the competition since 2010 118 Off field events of 2017 edit In October 2017 a referendum was held in Catalonia on the subject of the region becoming independent from Spain which the organisers claimed had resulted in the majority voting for independence the process was declared illegal by the Spanish state both before and after it was held with widespread disorder on polling day including violence by security forces against civilians in the city of Barcelona 119 120 in the midst of this FC Barcelona took the decision to close their stadium for a league fixture scheduled for the same day after a request to postpone it was rejected by the LFP the match against Las Palmas was played behind closed doors 121 122 Many of Barcelona s supporters within Catalonia and several members of the club s hierarchy 123 are in favour of the region becoming independent from Spain 124 125 with banners and other slogans to this effect frequently seen at matches 123 Their visit to Bilbao at the end of that month was one of the few occasions when they were not met with open hostility from opposition fans for their perceived role as the club of the independence movement 126 Were Catalonia to gain independence the consequence for its clubs could be expulsion from the Spanish system 125 123 28 124 as stated on more than one occasion by the league s president Javier Tebas 28 127 potentially leading to Barcelona and Espanyol competing in a Catalan League alongside very small clubs from the current third and fourth Spanish tiers 123 28 FIFA did not comment on the potential future scenario 124 Similarly Basque independence is an issue which continues to occupy the political scene in that region 128 with nationalist parties consistently receiving high percentages in elections As with Barcelona independence is a concept which is favoured by many of the Athletic Bilbao supporters in a wider context 37 but its implementation could result in their club being the largest in a hypothetical Basque League with only a small number of professional teams as well as bringing to an end their proud record of longevity competing in the Spanish league For Athletic however the more conventional danger of relegation which has not concerned Barcelona for many years could end that sequence sooner The club s poor performance in the 2017 18 and 2018 19 seasons 129 recalled more serious concerns over losing their league place a decade earlier 130 Due to so few eligible players being available under the limitations of their policy they cannot simply buy their way out of trouble in a bad run of form 21 Previous surveys of supporters indicated the vast majority would rather see the team relegated than abandon their self imposed restrictions on players 131 Head to head statistics editAs of 3 March 2024Competition Pld ATH D BAR ATG BAGLa Liga 132 109 133 186 60 32 94 259 352Copa del Rey 134 14 a 45 15 6 24 59 77Supercopa de Espana b 7 3 1 3 11 11UEFA Cup 2 1 1 0 4 3Total in official games c d 240 79 40 121 333 4431941 FEF President s Cup 2 1 0 1 5 6Copa de Oro Argentina 1 0 0 1 5 4Friendly citation needed 53 23 7 23 126 110Total 296 103 47 146 469 563Head to head ranking in La Liga 1929 2023 edit P 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 231 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 12 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 23 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 34 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 45 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 56 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 67 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 78 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 89 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 910 10 10 10 10 1011 11 11 11 1112 12 12 12 12 12 1213 13 1314 1415 1516 1617 171819202122 Total Athletic Bilbao with 17 higher finishes Barcelona with 75 higher finishes as of the end of the 2022 23 season Notable results editHighest scoring games edit 13 goals Athletic Bilbao 12 1 Barcelona February 1931 La Liga 3 39 12 goals Athletic Bilbao 7 5 Barcelona January 1940 La Liga 138 6 9 goals Barcelona 6 3 Athletic Bilbao December 1930 La Liga 139 Athletic Bilbao 6 3 Barcelona November 1941 La Liga 140 8 goals Athletic Bilbao 3 5 Barcelona March 1935 La Liga 141 40 Biggest wins edit 11 goal margin Athletic Bilbao 12 1 Barcelona February 1931 La Liga 3 39 7 goal margin Barcelona 7 0 Athletic Bilbao February 2001 La Liga 142 87 6 goal margin Barcelona 0 6 Athletic Bilbao October 1945 La Liga 143 Athletic Bilbao 0 6 Barcelona March 1991 La Liga 144 6 40 88 Barcelona 6 0 Athletic Bilbao January 2016 La Liga 145 5 goal margin Athletic Bilbao 6 1 Barcelona December 1933 La Liga 146 Barcelona 5 0 Athletic Bilbao December 1949 La Liga 147 Personnel at both clubs editPlayers edit nbsp Ernesto Valverde has played for and coached both clubs Over their long histories only sixteen players have played for both clubs in La Liga others did so in the years prior to its introduction including Felix Sesumaga and Juan Irizar 148 149 150 Manuel Vidal Hermosa Luis Zabala es Gonzalo Beitia es Emilio Aldecoa Jaime Escudero es Jesus Garay Pedro Maria Zabalza Jose Ramon Alexanko Andoni Zubizarreta Julio Salinas Ernesto Valverde Ion Andoni Goikoetxea Xabier Eskurza Jose Mari Garcia Santi Ezquerro Inigo MartinezManagers edit Four coaches have been at the helm of both clubs 151 152 153 150 Conyers Kirby Ferdinand Daucik Salvador Artigas Ernesto Valverde 85 Women s rivalry editAthletic Club Femenino and FC Barcelona Femeni are two of the top teams in the Spanish women s league Between 2009 10 and 2019 20 both always finished among the top five in the table with Athletic the team falling below those places in 2021 whereas in the same period Barcelona became established as one of the best teams in the world they lost only two domestic league matches in four seasons won two UEFA Women s Champions League titles and supplied eight members of the Spain squad which won the 2023 FIFA Women s World Cup 154 plus others who did not take part with stars from across the world enhancing that group In contrast Athletic adhere to the club s Basque player policy and have experienced a similar decline in their stature to their male counterparts relative to the continued progression professionalisation and globalisation of women s football and the arrival of Real Madrid Femenino on the scene in 2020 ensured there would be another strong and well financed opponent in contention for trophies 154 although not ready to challenge Barcelona s dominance One of the most important matches played between the clubs was played on 5 May 2013 at San Mames in a winner takes all game Athletic needed only one point to win their fifth title but Barcelona beat the Basques 2 1 to ensure their own second championship 155 In 2016 it was Athletic who finished as champions one point ahead of Barca 156 In the Copa de la Reina won 9 times by Barcelona as of 2023 while Athletic have never done so there has been one final played between the clubs with the Catalans winning on penalties in 2014 157 See also editBasque Country national football team Basque derby Catalonia national football team Derbi barceloni El Clasico Nationalism and sport National and regional identity in Spain El Viejo ClasicoNotes edit Does not include the 1902 Copa de la Coronacion Final in which Athletic competed as part of Club Biscaya Does not include results in the unofficial 1941 FEF President s Cup or the 1945 Copa de Oro Argentina see below The clubs never met in the defunct Copa Eva Duarte or Copa de la Liga The totals do not include two fixtures played in the Champions Tournament of 1927 28 Barcelona 3 1 Athletic 135 and Athletic Bilbao 0 1 Barcelona 136 part of the Liga Espanola de Football a predecessor of the Spanish league which was never completed Athletic Bilbao s archive refers to the matches in the competition as friendlies 137 References edit Matches played by Gainza against Barcelona BDFutbol Retrieved 11 June 2018 a b c Matches of Messi Lionel Andres Messi Cuccittini vs Athletic Club BDfutbol Retrieved 16 June 2018 a b c d Athletic Club 12 1 FC Barcelona Athletic Bilbao Retrieved 16 June 2018 a b c d FC Barcelona Athletic Club un clasico de las finales coperas FC Barcelona Athletic Club a cup final classic in Spanish RFEF 5 March 2015 Archived from the original on 26 February 2021 Retrieved 16 June 2018 a b c d e f Athletic y Barcelona una vieja rivalidad en la Copa Athletic and Barcelona an old rivalry in the Cup La Nueva Espana in Spanish 30 May 2015 Retrieved 16 June 2018 a b c d e Athletic Barca el otro gran clasico del futbol espanol estrena estadio Athletic Barca the other great classic of Spanish football premieres at the new stadium in Spanish RTVE 1 December 2013 Retrieved 16 June 2018 a b c Athletic Barcelona El tambien Clasico de la liga Athletic Barcelona Also a Classic of the league Yahoo Sports in Spanish 27 August 2016 Retrieved 16 June 2018 a b c d Morbo Athletic Barca tres seguidos Suarez pendiente del TAD y la lambretta de Ney Morbo Athletic Barca three in a row Suarez awaiting the Administrative Court for Sport and Ney s rainbow flick Mundo Deportivo in Spanish 15 January 2016 Retrieved 16 June 2018 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Craig McCracken 1 November 2012 Bilbao v Barcelona 1984 the bitterest rivalry Beyond the last man Retrieved 16 June 2018 La historia de la rivalidad entre Athletic y Barcelona The history of the rivalry between Athletic and Barcelona Diario AS in Spanish 24 September 2010 Archived from the original on 30 September 2020 Retrieved 16 June 2018 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Scott Oliver 1 March 2012 The Other Rival Another Way The 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October 2009 Retrieved 16 June 2018 a b c d e f g Javier Giraldo 30 January 2021 Barca Athletic los momentos cumbre de una rivalidad centenaria Barca Athletic the peak moments of a century old rivalry Sport in Spanish Retrieved 5 September 2023 Jose Vicente Tejedor 12 February 2001 Spain Cup 1921 RSSSF Retrieved 10 October 2018 Barcelona in the strange and symbolic eye of a storm over Catalonia The Guardian 2 October 2017 Retrieved 16 June 2018 Basque to the bone Why Athletic Bilbao vs Real Sociedad is more than a game FourFourTwo 1 November 2006 Archived from the original on 26 August 2019 Retrieved 16 June 2018 a b Neil Stacey This is Athletic Bilbao the club whose loyalty to local talent is not negotiable The Guardian Retrieved 16 June 2018 Radnedge Keir 1 August 1977 The history of Athletic Bilbao 1898 1936 World Soccer Retrieved 16 June 2018 via In Bed With Maradona a b c Aquel 12 1 de Mr Pentland That 12 1 of Mr Pentland El Mundo in Spanish 25 September 2010 Retrieved 16 June 2018 a b c d Nine great games in Bilbao FC Barcelona 29 November 2013 Retrieved 16 June 2018 El quinto bombin The fifth bowler hat El Correo in Spanish 16 May 2015 Retrieved 4 November 2018 Ball Phil 21 April 2002 Mucho morbo The ancient rivalry of Barcelona and Real Madrid The Guardian London Retrieved 16 June 2018 a b Murray William J 1998 The World s Game A History of Soccer University of Illinois Press ISBN 9780252067181 Dolan Paddy Connolly John 2017 Sport and National Identities Globalization and Conflict Routledge ISBN 9781315519111 24 de septiembre de 1957 Inauguracion del Camp Nou 24 September 1957 Inauguration of Camp Nou in Spanish FC Barcelona 24 September 2015 Retrieved 16 June 2018 Camp Nou the history FC Barcelona Retrieved 9 November 2018 Fitzpatrick Richard 7 October 2012 Franco Real Madrid and Spanish football s eternal power struggle The Scotsman Retrieved 16 June 2018 Leyendas del Athletic Club de Bilbao Zarra Legends of the Athletic Club of Bilbao Zarra El Correo in Spanish Retrieved 16 June 2018 a b Lionel Messi breaks another Telmo Zarra record with Depor strike Sport 7 September 2017 Retrieved 16 June 2018 a b Messi equals Zarra s 68 year old Copa del Rey final record Diario AS 21 April 2018 Retrieved 16 June 2018 a b Messi breaks La Liga goalscoring record ESPN 22 November 2014 Retrieved 16 June 2018 a b Messi becomes player with most hat tricks of all time in Spanish football Marca 3 August 2015 Retrieved 16 June 2018 a b Messi overtakes Zarra as Real Madrid s worst nightmare Marca 13 August 2017 Retrieved 16 June 2018 Matches of Zarra Pedro Telmo Zarraonandia Montoya vs Barcelona BDfutbol Retrieved 16 June 2018 Leyendas del Athletic Club de Bilbao Garay Legends of the Athletic Club of Bilbao Garay El Correo in Spanish Retrieved 16 June 2018 Barcelona matches vs Athletic Club season 1976 77 BDFutbol Retrieved 16 June 2018 FC Barcelona history at Athletic s San Mames FC Barcelona 25 April 2013 Retrieved 16 June 2018 El ano del orgullo El Athletic en Copa de Ferias y UEFA pt VII The year of pride Athletic in the Fairs Cup and UEFA Cup part VII El Correo in Spanish 21 September 2009 Retrieved 16 June 2018 El Athletic quiere repetir la gesta europea de 1977 ante el Barca de Cruyff Athletic wants to repeat the European feat of 1977 against Cruyff s Barca Mundo Deportivo in Spanish 10 January 2017 Retrieved 16 June 2018 Eliminatorias UEFA el Athletic ya gano al Barca en la 76 77 UEFA qualifying Athletic already won against Barca in 76 77 Diario AS in Spanish 26 February 2016 Retrieved 16 June 2018 El Athletic de la dos finales 1977 Athletic in two finals 1977 in Spanish FutbolPrimera 31 March 2012 Retrieved 16 June 2018 a b c d e Thirty years on how El Tel tamed the Orwellian beast of Barcelona and won La Liga FourFourTwo 20 May 2014 Retrieved 16 June 2018 Season 1981 82 First Division table results and progress chart BDfutbol Retrieved 16 June 2018 El soberbio marcaje de Manolo a Dani due clave The superb marking on Dani by Manolo was key PDF Mundo Deportivo in Spanish 14 June 1981 Retrieved 15 July 2018 a b Clemente 25 anos despues Clemente 25 years later in Spanish El Diario Canarias Ahora 15 September 2008 Retrieved 16 June 2018 Season 1982 83 First Division table results and progress chart BDfutbol Retrieved 16 June 2018 La Liga seasons Athletic Bilbao s Basque Glory 1982 83 Football Republik 24 August 2013 Archived from the original on 29 January 2019 Retrieved 16 June 2018 a b c d e Encendio la rivalidad Athletic Barca It sparked the Athletic Barca rivalry in Spanish ESPN 24 September 2013 Retrieved 16 June 2018 La guerra dialectica Clemente Menotti pone tension en el Espanol Atletico de Madrid Clemente Menotti war of words tenses Espanol Atletico de Madrid up El Pais in Spanish 3 January 1988 Retrieved 3 May 2019 a b c d e Caceres Javier 17 May 2010 Wie Holz das bricht Like wood it breaks Suddeutsche Zeitung in German Retrieved 16 June 2018 Paul Doyle 22 January 2016 Golden Goal Ken McNaught for Aston Villa v Barcelona 1982 Super Cup The Guardian Retrieved 8 December 2018 a b c d e The Joy of Six hot football funks The Guardian 5 December 2008 Retrieved 16 June 2018 Matches of Andoni Goikoetxea in Season 1983 84 BDfutbol Retrieved 16 June 2018 Season 1983 84 First Division table results and progress chart BDfutbol Retrieved 16 June 2018 a b Athletic Barca 1984 la final de los palos Athletic Barca 1984 the sticks final ABC in Spanish 25 May 2012 Retrieved 16 June 2018 a b 1984 Athletic Bilbao 1 0 Barcelona Goal 17 May 2013 Archived from the original on 15 January 2018 Retrieved 16 June 2018 Maradona returns to the Bernabeu a place of thrilling and painful memories ESPN 13 February 2017 Retrieved 16 June 2018 El tercer mayor castigo The third biggest punishment El Pais in Spanish 27 November 1999 Retrieved 16 June 2018 a b 1 2 Del infierno a la final 1 2 From hell to the final PDF Mundo Deportivo in Spanish 10 April 1986 Retrieved 14 July 2018 a b El Comite de Competicion sanciona a Dani y De Andres y clausura el campo del Athletic por un partido The Competition Committee sanctions Dani and De Andres and closes the Athletic ground for one match El Pais in Spanish 11 April 1986 Retrieved 15 July 2018 El Barcelona ficha a Zubizarreta por 150 millones Barcelona sign Zubizarreta for 150 million El Pais in Spanish 3 May 1986 Retrieved 16 June 2018 The Real Madrid of La Quinta Marca 22 May 2017 Retrieved 16 June 2018 Lowe Sid 24 March 2016 Barcelona were transformed by Johan Cruyff not once but twice and for ever The Guardian Retrieved 16 June 2018 FC Barcelona Johan Cruyff 1988 96 FC Barcelona Retrieved 16 June 2018 a b c d Barcelona have named Ernesto Valverde as their new head coach but who is he Irish Examiner 29 May 2017 Retrieved 16 June 2018 Leyendas del Athletic Club de Bilbao Guerrero Legends of the Athletic Club of Bilbao Guerrero El Correo in Spanish Retrieved 16 June 2018 a b Former Athletic legend Julen Guerrero warns Basques will be no pushovers FC Barcelona 26 January 2016 Retrieved 16 June 2018 a b Aquel 0 6 en San Mames el partido de Stoichkov That 0 6 in San Mames Stoichkov s match in Spanish Vavel 28 August 2016 Retrieved 3 May 2019 Bosman el jugador mediocre que cambio el futbol moderno Bosman the mediocre player who changed modern football ABC in Spanish 14 December 2015 Retrieved 16 June 2018 World Football The 11 Most Successful European Clubs in History Bleacher Report Retrieved 16 June 2018 Attendances Filter Europe European Football Statistics Retrieved 16 June 2018 Celtic amp Rangers among top 20 most watched clubs BBC Sport 16 April 2019 Retrieved 17 April 2019 Catalonia and Basque Country reignite call for independent national football identities The Guardian 30 December 2013 Retrieved 16 June 2018 Catalunya 2 2 Euskadi in Spanish Basque Football Federation 8 October 2006 Retrieved 16 June 2018 Euskal Herria 1 1 Catalunya in Spanish Basque Football Federation 29 December 2007 Retrieved 16 June 2018 1 1 Euskadi y Catalunya empatan a goles en el partido del Centenario 1 1 Basque Country and Catalonia draw in the Centenary match Mundo Deportivo in Spanish 29 December 2014 Retrieved 16 June 2018 Aduriz da un nueva victoria de Euskadi ante Cataluna Aduriz gives a new victory for the Basques against Catalonia Diario AS in Spanish 27 December 2015 Retrieved 16 June 2018 a b Lionel Messi double gives Barcelona Cup final win over Athletic Bilbao The Observer 30 May 2015 Retrieved 16 June 2018 Spain sacks TV head after anthem booed The Irish Times Reuters 15 May 2009 Archived from the original on 21 October 2012 Retrieved 16 June 2018 Garcia Adriana 28 July 2015 Barcelona Athletic and RFEF face fines over Copa del Rey final ESPN Retrieved 16 June 2018 Carles Puyol l Ikurina et son fair play lors des finales contre l Athletic Carles Puyol Ikurrina and his fair play in the finals against Athletic Furia Liga in French 8 May 2018 Retrieved 16 June 2018 Maxima deportividad Maximum sportsmanship Marca in Spanish 22 May 2012 Retrieved 16 June 2018 Athletic Bilbao make a splash to peg back Barcelona in thriller The Guardian 7 November 2011 Retrieved 26 September 2018 Iraola Neymar rainbow unsporting Four Four Two 31 May 2015 Retrieved 16 June 2018 Saffer Paul 16 June 2018 Barcelona break new ground with second treble UEFA Athletic set off to parade the Cup on the streets of Bilbao Diario AS in Spanish 18 August 2015 Retrieved 16 June 2018 a b Barcelona crisis grows as Athletic Bilbao knock them out of Copa del Rey The Guardian 6 February 2020 Robbie Dunne 29 September 2018 Barcelona 1 1 Athletic Bilbao LaLiga gameweek 7 match report Diario AS Retrieved 29 September 2018 a b Past seasons filter versus Barcelona League Championship Athletic Bilbao Retrieved 16 June 2018 FC Barcelona s fine record away to Athletic Bilbao FC Barcelona 23 August 2016 Retrieved 16 June 2018 FC Barcelona Matches filters vs Athletic Bilbao First Division BDfutbol Retrieved 28 May 2021 Barcelona sack Ernesto Valverde and appoint Quique Setien BBC Sport 13 January 2020 Retrieved 28 May 2021 Aritz Aduriz s late acrobatics for Athletic Bilbao stun Barcelona The Guardian 16 August 2019 Retrieved 16 August 2019 Bell Arch 17 January 2021 Williams sinks Barcelona and Athletic claim the Supercopa Marca Retrieved 4 April 2021 Lowe Sid 17 April 2021 Messi stars as Barcelona thrash Athletic Bilbao to lift Copa del Rey The Guardian Retrieved 19 April 2021 Ron Walker 24 September 2021 Lionel Messi gone over 1bn in debt how do Barcelona turn around their year of crisis Sky Sports Retrieved 21 January 2022 Athletic Bilbao oust holders Barcelona from Copa del Rey in extra time thriller Reuters 20 January 2022 Retrieved 21 January 2022 via ESPN Athletic Club Barcelona summary score goals highlights Copa del Rey 2023 24 Diario AS 24 January 2024 Retrieved 31 January 2024 Richard A L Williams 1 October 2017 Catalonia referendum Firefighters attacked by Spanish police as they form human shield to protect voters Independent Co Uk Retrieved 16 June 2018 Spain Excessive use of force by National Police and Civil Guard in Catalonia Amnesty International 3 October 2017 Retrieved 10 October 2017 Club president reveals why Barcelona played behind closed doors over postponing the game The Independent 2 October 2017 Retrieved 16 June 2018 Sport Telegraph 1 October 2017 Barcelona beat Las Palmas behind closed doors amid Catalan referendum clashes The Daily Telegraph Retrieved 16 June 2018 a b c d Catalan independence How Barcelona and La Liga would be affected by Spain split Goal 27 October 2017 Retrieved 16 June 2018 a b c Tensions over Catalan independence spill onto football pitch Marca 29 September 2017 Retrieved 16 June 2018 a b Where would FC Barcelona be in an independent Catalonia BBC News BBC 23 September 2017 Retrieved 16 June 2018 El Barca visita un campo amigo Barca visit a friendly field Marca in Spanish 28 October 2017 Retrieved 16 June 2018 Mazariegos Luiz 1 March 2016 La Liga President Javier Tebas Clubs of independent Catalonia cannot play in the league SB Nation Retrieved 16 June 2018 Spain s Basques form human chain calling for independence vote BBC News BBC 10 June 2018 Retrieved 16 June 2018 Rivas Jon 7 November 2018 El fantasma del bienio negro ronda San Mames The ghost of the black biennium around San Mames El Pais in Spanish Retrieved 24 February 2019 Are Bilbao about to bow out The Guardian 4 December 2006 Retrieved 16 June 2018 Athletic Bilbao vs Real Madrid A Tale of 2 Transfer Policies Bleacher Report 31 January 2014 Retrieved 16 June 2018 FC Barcelona matches filter versus Athletic Club First Division Bdfutbol com Retrieved 16 June 2018 Athletic Bilbao vs FC Barcelona filter Spanish League in Spanish CIHEFE Retrieved 16 June 2018 Athletic Bilbao vs FC Barcelona filter Spanish Cup in Spanish CIHEFE Retrieved 16 June 2018 El Barcelona en su campo vence al Athletic de Bilbao Barcelona at their field defeats Athletic Bilbao La Epoca in Spanish 1 November 1927 Retrieved 16 June 2018 El torneo di campeones The champions tournament El Imparcial in Spanish 23 February 1928 Retrieved 16 June 2018 Friendly games 1927 28 Athletic Bilbao Retrieved 16 June 2018 Athletic Club 7 5 FC Barcelona Athletic Bilbao Retrieved 16 June 2018 FC Barcelona 6 3 Athletic Club Athletic Bilbao Retrieved 16 June 2018 Athletic Club 6 3 FC Barcelona Athletic Bilbao Retrieved 16 June 2018 Athletic Club 3 5 FC Barcelona Athletic Bilbao Retrieved 16 June 2018 FC Barcelona 7 0 Athletic Club Athletic Bilbao Retrieved 16 June 2018 FC Barcelona 0 6 Athletic Club Athletic Bilbao Retrieved 16 June 2018 Athletic Club 0 6 FC Barcelona Athletic Bilbao Retrieved 16 June 2018 FC Barcelona 6 0 Athletic Club Athletic Bilbao Retrieved 16 June 2018 Athletic Club 6 1 FC Barcelona Athletic Bilbao Retrieved 16 June 2018 FC Barcelona 5 0 Athletic Club Athletic Bilbao Retrieved 16 June 2018 De Lakatos a Ezquerro todos los cules leones de la historia From Lakatos to Ezquerro all the ass lions of history Sport in Spanish 20 May 2012 Retrieved 20 October 2018 14 jugadores que vistieron la camiseta del Athletic y Barcelona 14 players who wore Athletic and Barcelona jerseys Diario AS in Spanish 17 March 2018 Retrieved 16 June 2018 a b Face off Athletic Bilbao vs Barcelona Grup14 29 May 2015 Archived from the original on 20 October 2018 Retrieved 16 June 2018 Managers of Athletic Club bdfutbol com BDfutbol Retrieved 16 June 2018 Managers of Barcelona bdfutbol com BDfutbol Retrieved 16 June 2018 Coaches history athletic club eus Athletic Bilbao Retrieved 16 June 2018 a b Espana un equipo con ADN Barca y una nueva rivalidad con el Real Madrid Spain a team with Barca DNA and a new rivalry with Real Madrid FIFA in Spanish 24 July 2023 Retrieved 5 September 2023 El Barcelona derrota al Athletic en San Mames y le arrebata la Liga Femenina en la jornada final Barcelona defeats Athletic at San Mames and snatchs the women s league in the last round in Spanish 20minutos es 5 May 2013 Retrieved 19 January 2019 El Athletic se proclama campeon de la Primera Division Femenina Athletic are proclaimed champions of the Women s Premier Division in Spanish La Liga 5 June 2016 Retrieved 19 January 2019 David Menayo 21 June 2014 Los penaltis coronan al Barcelona como campeonas de Copa Penalties see Barcelona crowned as Cup winners Marca in Spanish Retrieved 19 January 2019 External links editHistoria de los Athletic Barca en imagenes History of Athletic Barca in images Mundo Deportivo 2013 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Athletic Barcelona clasico amp oldid 1212027915, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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