5 things you may not know about the Madrid derby

With the city of Madrid boasting two of the best teams in Spanish and European football history, the capital city rivalry will be an exciting and fascinating one. There’s so much history, but here are 5 things you may not know about the fixture. 

Atletico was formed in reaction to Real Madrid

A group of Basque students living in Madrid attended the first ever Copa del Rey final in 1903 between Bilbao’s Athletic Club and Madrid FC, the team that would go on to become Real Madrid.

They disliked the way Madrid FC played and 18 days later created a Madrid-based subsidiary of Athletic, which would go on to become Atlético de Madrid. 

Atletico once went 14 years without a derby win, but it’s a very different story now

Between 1999 and 2013, Atlético de Madrid endured derby hell. They didn’t win in 25 meetings with Real Madrid – that is, until the arrival of Diego Simeone eventually changed their fortunes.

Since that rojiblancos victory, the derby balance has shifted. The team has won 9 of the 30 derbies played since then, while also drawing 10 and losing 11 (all competitions).

Atletico’s LaLiga Santander record includes 4 victories and 4 defeats in 15 derbies.

Atletico fans, not Real Madrid fans, began the tradition of celebrating at Cibeles fountain

During the 1970s, the tradition of celebrating titles with fellow fans of your team at certain points in the city began to emerge in Spanish football.

The Cibeles fountain, located in the very center of Madrid, emerged as an ideal meeting point for such fans, and is closely associated with Real Madrid today.

But it was actually Atletico fans who first started to hold their celebrations there after a LaLiga title win in 1977.

Over time, other fans began to copy them and it became the fan meeting point in the city for title wins.

Throughout the 1980s, Real Madrid fans would celebrate the victories of the iconic Quinta del Buitre generation there.

By the time Atletico won another title in 1991 – the Copa del Rey – Cibeles had become so closely associated with Real Madrid that their fans decided to move their celebrations 600 meters down the city’s Paseo de la Castellana avenue to Neptune’s fountain.  

This used to be a bigger fixture than the ElClasico

Today, FC Barcelona is considered as Real Madrid’s archrival, but the Madrid derby was a bigger deal in the first couple of decades after the Spanish Civil War ended in 1939.

As the all-time great Alfredo Di Stéfano once said, “Forget Barcelona…the team that can frustrate us is Atlético.”

9 of Atletico’s Copa del Rey wins have come at Bernabeu

Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu stadium is, funnily enough, a very special place for Atlético de Madrid fans.

The Los Colchoneros have won the Copa del Rey on 10 occasions, with a remarkable 9 of those successes coming at their archrivals’ stadium.

Of their 10 cup final successes, only the 1996 victory against FC Barcelona was held at a different ground – Real Zaragoza’s La Romareda. – Rappler.com

Watch Atletico de Madrid vs Real Madrid this Sunday at 11:15pm on beIN Sports.