Barcelona vs Real Madrid: top Clásico controversies

Alejandro Soto CONTROVERSIES Some of the moments that have fuelled soccer's biggest club rivalry CLÁSICO

[{"selector":"#anim-882dff32-f5a9-4a10-94cb-4a6c33a0431d","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 170.91239%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":4000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-64d2fcd2-f0b2-4bac-86cb-ce824052b009 [data-leaf-element=\"true\"]","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(15.653408882495306%, 0, 0)","translate3d(0%, 0, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":8000,"fill":"both"}] The rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona, one of the fiercest in world soccer, is currently at fever pitch over the ‘Negreira affair’.

[{"selector":"#anim-6b295ec3-5120-446d-b051-5cffceed2df0","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 170.91239%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":4000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-79c0376a-2ec1-4678-b624-ce2dd9ca3025 [data-leaf-element=\"true\"]","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(22.12227361054006%, 0, 0)","translate3d(0%, 0, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":8000,"fill":"both"}] It’s just one of a number of occasions in the history of El Clásico that tension between the clubs has been ratcheted up to the max.

[{"selector":"#anim-ab179062-d6f7-4e2b-8a7e-12e01d527ca3","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 700.61766%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":4000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-094bffbf-8a9f-4c1f-9b0a-1088eca1c1df","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 169.28640%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":4000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-3af34694-66b0-4494-bea4-c81ba20f055f [data-leaf-element=\"true\"]","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(-17.518291054982626%, 0, 0)","translate3d(0%, 0, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":8000,"fill":"both"}] DI STÉFANO JOINS REAL Real Madrid’s signing of Argentine Alfredo di Stéfano, who went on to become a club great, fuelled the fire of the two teams’ rivalry in 1953.

[{"selector":"#anim-b6be78e3-3d62-4d6a-a5a8-a98c9ea723ee","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 170.91239%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":4000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-1d8e3c53-4671-46c9-b349-9834fb1815b7 [data-leaf-element=\"true\"]","keyframes":{"transform":["scale(0.6289308176100629)","scale(1)"]},"delay":0,"duration":8000,"fill":"forwards"}] Di Stéfano appeared all set to join Barça from Colombian club Millonarios - only for Madrid to nip in ahead of the Blaugrana to snap up the star.

[{"selector":"#anim-92e08339-a4ea-4744-a642-d684a26af82c","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 700.61766%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":4000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-b3e079f8-c16e-40ec-8939-499fb0c9c7e2","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 169.28640%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":4000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-c60ed421-8703-48ca-8a46-6220502a45e6 [data-leaf-element=\"true\"]","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(17.18749980089502%, 0, 0)","translate3d(0%, 0, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":8000,"fill":"both"}] FIGO NOT FORGIVEN After swapping Barça for Madrid in 2000, Luis Figo got dog’s - or should that be pig’s - abuse when he returned to the Camp Nou in the white shirt.

[{"selector":"#anim-4faf3775-3ebe-49fd-bdfd-fef2c5236875","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 172.53844%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":4000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-e49258d7-920c-423b-a4ac-70e4582324b3 [data-leaf-element=\"true\"]","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(-8.124999442506068%, 0, 0)","translate3d(0%, 0, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":8000,"fill":"both"}] In a 2002 Clásico in Catalonia, one aggrieved home fan threw a pig’s head at Figo. It is one of the rivalry’s most memorable, most bizarre images.

[{"selector":"#anim-3883b81b-8ae6-478e-a992-4cb7b6e31e5d","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 700.61766%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":4000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-be7b04f6-c8e2-4d0e-a4d9-52920c3bb36e","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 175.79047%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":4000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-c1b67b06-bca5-46f0-a837-60cb7146dace [data-leaf-element=\"true\"]","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(-17.102272527650605%, 0, 0)","translate3d(0%, 0, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":8000,"fill":"both"}] MOU VS PEP José Mourinho and Pep Guardiola were Real and Barça coaches, respectively, during one of El Clásico’s most dazzling - and most fractious - periods.

[{"selector":"#anim-6ee8fbaf-df94-4807-8fe4-f486472b55a4","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 172.53844%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":4000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-48f6e776-acb7-4e17-8bc9-7bff831f4940 [data-leaf-element=\"true\"]","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0, 7.760782355151471e-15%, 0)","translate3d(0, 0%, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":8000,"fill":"both"}] With Mou and Pep aiming constant jibes at each other and their clubs in their press conferences, there was an edge to every Madrid-Barça clash.

[{"selector":"#anim-51814d80-eb8a-4beb-ad2d-5b6d78819f2e","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 700.61766%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":4000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-c04c5d3c-d30e-442e-870e-cb6614aee34c","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 169.28640%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":4000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-72254e26-16bc-4370-8473-17d510cea810 [data-leaf-element=\"true\"]","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(-11.562499766762741%, 0, 0)","translate3d(0%, 0, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":8000,"fill":"both"}] MOURINHO VS VILANOVA Mourinho was also at the centre of Clásico controversy when he clashed with the late Tito Vilanova in a 2011 meeting between the clubs.

[{"selector":"#anim-7eca34a6-21d7-4ad2-8310-1e6b01245e42","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 170.91239%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":4000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-f85ffe10-8075-4645-a99e-c44b82f4ef17 [data-leaf-element=\"true\"]","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(50.094399823955236%, 0, 0)","translate3d(0%, 0, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":8000,"fill":"both"}] In a Spanish Super Cup game at the Camp Nou, Mourinho could be seen poking the then-Barça assistant in the eye as tempers flared.

[{"selector":"#anim-4fc8d383-29f1-401e-abaf-952621a6d0df","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 700.61766%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":4000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-07364bc7-468d-4450-89d6-e1ef4f425b01","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 175.79047%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":4000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-d434359f-1053-477c-a6a1-2280ea7a3220 [data-leaf-element=\"true\"]","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(22.623700429938857%, 0, 0)","translate3d(0%, 0, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":8000,"fill":"both"}] MESSI, CR7 GET SHIRTY In 2017, Barcelona won a heart-stopping Clásico 3-2 at the Bernabéu, Lionel Messi firing in the visitors’ third with just seconds to go.

[{"selector":"#anim-a3e255c4-eb2e-4931-8d84-f40b3ea590a1","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 170.91239%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":4000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-c240c83a-13c8-44a1-a0f9-a2305620750f [data-leaf-element=\"true\"]","keyframes":{"transform":["scale(0.746268656716418)","scale(1)"]},"delay":0,"duration":8000,"fill":"forwards"}] A jubilant Messi celebrated his goal by removing his No. 10 shirt and, in one of El Clásico’s iconic moments, holding it up to the home crowd.

[{"selector":"#anim-4aa32069-6b7c-4da8-b4c9-1346c60f235d","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 172.53844%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":4000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-4dd93abc-bad0-44cc-9036-52c93fb8c108 [data-leaf-element=\"true\"]","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(-10.454545214585169%, 0, 0)","translate3d(0%, 0, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":8000,"fill":"both"}] Later that year, Real Madrid’s Spanish Super Cup victory over Barcelona came thanks, in part, to a first-leg Cristiano Ronaldo strike at the Camp Nou.

[{"selector":"#anim-2f392656-b9a3-4c8c-a7e8-ba428509f0d2","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 170.91239%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":4000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-f84bfc65-e055-4109-9ba8-ab0dcace3695 [data-leaf-element=\"true\"]","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(16.164772521961883%, 0, 0)","translate3d(0%, 0, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":8000,"fill":"both"}] And Ronaldo didn’t miss the chance to mimic Messi’s celebration, the forward whipping off his No. 7 jersey to display it to the Barça faithful.