11/08/2026
This isn't just Barcelona versus Real Madrid. It never was. ⚽🇪🇸
Welcome back to Hail Football's Football Series. This is El Clásico's real story.
In 1939, General Francisco Franco won the Spanish Civil War and took control of Spain. He wanted one country, one language, one identity. The Catalan language was banned. Catalan culture was suppressed. And Barcelona Football Club the pride of Catalonia was forced to remove the Catalan flag from its own badge. Their club president, Josep Sunyol, had already been executed by Franco's troops in 1936.
Franco chose Real Madrid as his symbol. Whenever Real Madrid won and under Franco they won often it was used as propaganda. Proof that Spain was great. Barcelona became the symbol of everything Franco hated. Every match between these two clubs became something bigger than football.
Then came June the thirteenth, 1943. The Copa del Generalísimo named after Franco himself. Barcelona had won the first leg three-nil. But before the second leg, reports say Spanish security officials entered the Barcelona dressing room and reminded the players of the political situation in no uncertain terms. Some accounts say they were told directly that they were only allowed to play because of Franco's generosity.
Barcelona lost the second leg eleven goals to one. The biggest defeat in El Clásico history. To this day, historians disagree on exactly what happened. But nobody forgets the scoreline.
Today, Lamine Yamal wears the Barcelona shirt. Mbappé wears the white of Real Madrid. A new chapter has begun. But the history never goes away.
👇 Barcelona or Real Madrid which club do you support?
Follow Hail Football EP.6: The Bundesliga story drops next week. 🔔
