Teams Barcelona
Espanyol | First meeting 7 April 1929 | |
Other names El Derbi
El Derbi Barceloní, Catalan Derby Locale Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain Latest meeting Barcelona 4–1 Espanyol
La Liga
(18 December 2016) Next meeting Espanyol v Barcelona
La Liga
(30 April 2017) | ||
The Derbi barceloní ([ˈdɛrβi βərsəɫuˈni]; Spanish: Derbi barcelonés, [ˈderβi βarθeloˈnes]; "Barcelonian Derby"), is the name given to football matches between FC Barcelona and RCD Espanyol, both of them from Barcelona, Spain.
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Background and history
Espanyol, being one of the clubs granted royal patronage, was founded exclusively by Spanish football fans, unlike the multinational nature of Barça's primary board. The founding message of the club was clearly anti-Barcelona, and they disapprovingly saw FC Barcelona as a team of foreigners. The rivalry was strengthened by what Catalonians saw as a provocative representative of Madrid. Their original ground was in the affluent district of Sarrià.
During the dictatorships of Miguel Primo de Rivera (1923–1930) and Francisco Franco (1939–1975), Espanyol was seen by the vast majority of Barcelona's citizens as a club which cultivated a kind of compliance to the central authority, in stark contrast to Barça's revolutionary spirit. Also in the 1960s and 1970s, while FC Barcelona acted as a social integrator for immigrants from poorer regions of Spain in search for a better life, Espanyol drew their support mainly from sectors close to the regime such as policemen, military officers, civil servants and career fascists.
In 1918, Espanyol started a counter-petition against autonomy, which at that time had become a pertinent issue. Later on, an Espanyol supporter group would join the Falangists in the Spanish Civil War, siding with the fascists. Despite these differences in ideology, the derbi has always been more relevant to Espanyol supporters than Barcelona ones due to the difference in objectives. In recent years the rivalry has become less political, as Espanyol translated its official name and anthem from Spanish to Catalan.
Though it is the most played local derby in the history of La Liga, it is also the most unbalanced, with Barcelona overwhelmingly dominant. In the league table, Espanyol has only managed to finish above Barça on three occasions in almost 70 years and the only all-Catalan Copa del Rey final was won by Barça in 1957. Espanyol has the consolation of achieving the largest margin win with a 6–0 in 1951. Espanyol achieved a 2–1 win against Barça during the 2008–09 season, becoming the first team to defeat Barcelona at Camp Nou in their treble-winning season. Barça's Lionel Messi has scored 17 goals against Espanyol, the most in the history of the derby.
Matches
These are only the league matches.
* There were no league matches between 1936 to 1939 because of the Spanish Civil War
Head to head
Last updated: 7 December 2014
Players who played for both sides
Women's Derbi barceloní
As of 3 November 2016