The Football Weekend7 Helmi 2025

The Madrid Derby (Feat. Graham Hunter)

It’s first against second in La Liga, as REAL MADRID lead ATLÉTICO MADRID by just a point at the top of the table. Barcelona have fallen away somewhat from their hot start under new boss Hansi Flick, and now Spain’s capital quarrel may answer quite a few questions around who will be crowned champions in May.

It’s all happening just as managers Diego Simeone and Carlo Ancelotti—egged on by the tempestuous football media in Spain—trade barbs over refereeing controversies and Real Madrid’s repeated shattering of Atléti hearts in recent times. This one goes way further back, though. It's a dispute with roots in Spanish football’s earliest history and then—crucially—the Spanish Civil War and the subsequent dictatorship of Francisco Franco.

For much of the ‘60s and ‘70s, as now, Atléti fought their way into the reckoning at the summit of Spanish football, forcing Real Madrid and Barcelona to take notice. The Colchoneros started out as a satellite of Athletic Club de Bilbao, gained then shedded associations with the Spanish military, and then the Madrid derby took on its modern shape: Real Madrid as the establishment club, the continental giants and serial winners. Atléti as the leftist, working-class outfit that proudly embraced a spirit of rebellion.

Here to trace it all and preview this weekend’s encounter is Graham Hunter, storied scribe of Spanish football for ESPN.

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18 Loka 202451min

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11 Loka 20241h 7min

The Derby dell'Emilia (Feat. Christine Cupo)

This one's named for a region named after a road—the Via Aemilia—that the Romans built after they took this chunk of northern Italy off some Celtic tribes back in 189 BC. A bunch of towns grew up alon...

3 Loka 202435min

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27 Syys 202456min

The North London Derby (Feat. Arseblog)

There are few feuds like the 111-year-old dispute between Arsenal and Tottenham over who exactly owns North London. These two first met in 1896, but that was when Arsenal were in Woolwich, south of th...

13 Syys 202440min

The Old Firm (Feat. Chris McLaughlin)

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