Real Madrid vs. Barcelona Soccer Match at Camp Nou

The rivalry between the two largest cities in Spain takes on existential qualities that range from national pride to patriotic fervor and regionalism. To the fans watching the match, the Spanish centralized state and Catalanism is on the line, and hundreds of millions of people are watching and waiting.

Put Spain’s troubles in the early part of the last century, dictatorship, republicanism, syndicalism, and any other –isms you’d like into the mix, and you’ve got the potential for riots, tears and an impassioned football match at your finger tips.

Often played in Barcelona, El Classico, as the match is known, attracts the attention of the nation and the world. The stadium in Barcelona, the famed Nou Camp, holds just shy of 100,000 fans, and is known to rock the rafters during the action.

Add that to the fact that the according to recent polls, Barcelona is the most popular team in Europe with some 44.2 million supporters, followed closely by Real Madrid with about 39 million, and you’ve got one heck of a rivalry.