El Viejo Clásico (''The Old Classic''), also known as ''El Otro Clásico'' (''The Other Classic'') is the name given to any

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

match between

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club (; ), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao (), or simply Athletic, is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Southern Basque Country, Basque Country, Spain. They are known ...

and

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

. Until 10 December 2011, this fixture was the most played in the history of

Spanish football Football is the most popular sport in Spain, with 61% of the population interested in it. Spain has some of the most influential teams in Europe (Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atlético de Madrid, Sevilla, Valencia, and others) as well as many playe ...

, when it was surpassed by

El Clásico El Clásico (in Spanish, also in lowercase letters; ) or El Clàssic (in Catalan, ), both meaning "The Classic", is the name given to any football match between rival clubs Barcelona and Real Madrid. Originally referring to competitions he ...

(between Real Madrid and

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

). However, it remains the most played game in the

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

– although only five of the 56 matches took place in the 21st century. These two clubs, along with Barcelona, are the only participants in all editions of

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

, the national league championship. Both are owned by their ''socios'' (members) who elect a club president to oversee its affairs.

History

Their first meeting occurred in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

of the first edition of the

, played on 8 April 1903; Athletic won 3–2. That match has been identified as a catalyst for the establishment a few weeks later of what would eventually become

Club Atlético de Madrid Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises * ...

, after some Madrid-based Basque students among the spectators were inspired by the comeback victory by Athletic Bilbao and decided to form a local branch of the club. Their first match at the original San Mamés took place in that competition in

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen in Finland, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its ow ...

. Meetings became common as Athletic Bilbao and Real Madrid dominated the regional tournaments (

Biscay Championship The Biscay Regional Championship ''(Campeonato Regional de Vizcaya)'', also called the North Regional Championship ''(Campeonato Regional Norte)'' in its early editions, was an official football tournament in Spain organised by the North Footbal ...

and Madrid Regional Championship respectively), the winning of which granted access to the Copa del Rey. The

Basques The Basques ( or ; ; ; ) are a Southwestern European ethnic group, characterised by the Basque language, a Basque culture, common culture and shared genetic ancestry to the ancient Vascones and Aquitanians. Basques are indigenous peoples, ...

and

Castilians Castilians () are the inhabitants of the historical region of Castile in central Spain. However, the boundaries of the region are disputed. Not all people in the regions of the medieval Kingdom of Castile or Crown of Castile think of themsel ...

met in nine Cup finals between 1903 and 1958; Athletic won six of these matches.

First league matches, Francoist Spain and beyond

On 21 April 1929, Athletic Bilbao and Real Madrid met for the first time in La Liga; Real Madrid won the match at Chamartín 5–1. The 1929 Copa del Rey semi-final second leg in Bilbao became known as the 'frog match', after a local company distributed toys which made frog-like noises to increase the noise level in the stadium to distract the visitors, who were 3–1 up from the first leg. The ploy failed resoundingly, with Real Madrid recording a 4–1 win to progress 7–2; however they would lose the final. The two clubs would share ten of the first 25 championships (Athletic six, Madrid four) either side of the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

up to 1956, but from that point ''Los Blancos'' became the dominant club in the country, winning 16 titles from 26 available (plus six European Cups). In that era, the ''

caudillo A ''caudillo'' ( , ; , from Latin language, Latin , diminutive of ''caput'' "head") is a type of Personalist dictatorship, personalist leader wielding military and political power. There is no precise English translation for the term, though it ...

General Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republ ...

used the success of Real Madrid (based in the

capital city A capital city, or just capital, is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state (polity), state, province, department (administrative division), department, or other administrative division, subnational division, usually as its ...

, the seat of power) as a vehicle to promote the

Spanish State Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death i ...

to foreigners, whereas Athletic Bilbao – the largest club in the peripheral Basque region whose customs and language were repressed by the central government – won no titles in the same period, only even finishing runners-up once. The Basques and other regions regained more self-control in the years following Franco's death in 1975, symbolised by the joint display of the banned Basque flag by the captains of Athletic and local rivals

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad ( ; ''Royal Society'') in English, and Erreala or Reala in Basque language, Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Donostia / San Sebastián, ...

at a match between them a year later. However, many of the supporters of Athletic and Real Madrid, including their

Ultras Ultras are a type of association football fans who are known for their fanatical support. The term originated in Italy, but is used worldwide to describe predominantly organised fans of association football teams. The behavioural tendency ...

groups ('' Herri Norte'' and '' Ultras Sur'' respectively), still adhere to opposing views in terms of their

national identity National identity is a person's identity or sense of belonging to one or more states or one or more nations. It is the sense of "a nation as a cohesive whole, as represented by distinctive traditions, culture, and language". National identity ...

. In this regard, the relationship has similarities with the more famous and intense ''El Clásico'' rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona (representing

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

). On the field, a competitive edge was briefly restored in the early 1980s when Athletic built a strong combative team that won the league twice, finishing ahead of Real Madrid by one point in

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

with the top spot changing hands on the last day; the season was nothing short of a disaster for the ''Meringues'', who also lost in the finals of the Supercopa, the

(to a last-minute goal), the

European Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

(in

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

), and the

Copa de la Liga The Copa de la Liga (League Cup in Spanish) was a Spanish football tournament created in 1982. Due to time constraints, saturation and club pressure, the competition only lasted four years, being cancelled in 1986. Winning the trophy helped two ...

. In the following campaign, Athletic pipped Madrid by a single goal and better head-to-head record, but their

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

and

cup A cup is an open-top vessel (container) used to hold liquids for drinking, typically with a flattened hemispherical shape, and often with a capacity of about . Cups may be made of pottery (including porcelain), glass, metal, wood, stone, pol ...

double that year was the last time they lifted either trophy; Real Madrid soon responded with a run of five-in-a-row, led by their group of homegrown talent, La Quinta del Buitre. During a hotly-contested fixture in Bilbao in March 1990, the referee awarded a dubious penalty to the away side and had to halt the game for 12 minutes after objects were thrown at the linesman and Madrid goalkeeper Paco Buyo. The match finished as normal, but as a consequence the San Mamés stadium was closed for one match, with Athletic playing

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid (), is a Spanish professional List of football clubs in Spain, football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León that will compete from the 2025–26 season in the . The club ...

at the

Atotxa Stadium Atotxa () was a association football, football stadium in San Sebastián, Spain. It was the home ground of Real Sociedad until 1993 when it was replaced by Anoeta Stadium. It had superseded Ondarreta Stadium 80 years earlier. It had a capacity of ...

San Sebastián San Sebastián, officially known by the bilingual name Donostia / San Sebastián (, ), is a city and municipality located in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. It lies on the coast of the Bay of Biscay, from the France–Spain border ...

21st century

Entering the 21st century, other clubs offered significant challenges to Real Madrid, such as

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

(their city rivals who were originally formed as an offshoot of Athletic Bilbao and thus have a similar name, crest and kit),

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

and Barcelona. Athletic Bilbao were not among this group, now hampered by their self-imposed restrictive Basque-only player policy in an age of worldwide recruitment, exemplified by Madrid's ''

Galácticos ' (Spanish for ''galactics'', referring to superstars) are expensive, world-famous football players recruited during the "''galácticos''" policy pursued by Florentino Pérez during his presidency at Real Madrid, where in his first tenure betwee ...

'' who won eight further Champions Leagues between

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

and

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

. Real Madrid have a global fanbase and are one of the world's richest, most decorated and best-attended clubs. Athletic have a much lower profile and have occasionally flirted with relegation (a situation observed with derision at the

Santiago Bernabéu Stadium Santiago Bernabéu Stadium (, ) is a retractable roof association football, football stadium in Madrid, Spain. With a seating capacity of around 83,000 following its extensive renovation completed in late 2024, the stadium has the second-largest ...

), although they have consistently ranked among the top half-dozen clubs in Spain for performance, matchday attendance and popularity. Nevertheless, despite the disparities in stature between the two clubs, the fixtures remain keenly fought due to their historical and cultural significance. There is no doubt who has the upper hand in recent meetings: in 2004–05 Athletic won home and away against Real Madrid, but since then they won just two of their home matches in the dozen seasons up to 2016–17, and took no points at all from the 12 matches at the Bernabéu with Real Madrid registering four or five goals on several occasions; the ''Merengues'' also won both legs of the cup tie between the sides in

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

(they would not be paired again for 15 years). In April 2011, Real Madrid registered a 3–0 away win over Athletic despite resting several players for important upcoming games, and in the same fixture in May 2012 they achieved the same result and scoreline to clinch their 32nd title in Bilbao, becoming the first visiting team to win the league in the city.

Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains both Saudi Pr ...

scored in both matches, and he is Real Madrid's top goalscorer in the fixture, having overtaken

Raúl Raul, Raúl, Raül, and Raüll are forms of a common first name in Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Galician, Asturian, Basque, Aragonese, and Catalan. The name is cognate of the Anglo-Germanic given name Ralph or Rudolph and the French R ...

's tally of 15 in 2016. Both Ronaldo and Athletic's Zarra have 17 league goals in the fixture, but Zarra is still some way ahead overall with 24. The clubs' first meeting in the

Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España, also known as the Spanish Super Cup, is a super cup tournament in Football in Spain, Spanish football. Founded in 1982 Supercopa de España, 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2 ...

was in

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, when Athletic Bilbao defeated La Liga title holders Real Madrid in the semi-final and went on to win the trophy. The outcome was reversed the following season, as Madrid won the 2022 final 2–0 in Saudi Arabia – the first time the two teams had met to directly compete for a trophy since the 1958 Copa del Generalísimo Final. Two weeks after that, Athletic eliminated Real Madrid from the

2021–22 Copa del Rey The 2021–22 Copa del Rey was the 120th staging of the Copa del Rey (including two seasons where two rival editions were played). The winners were assured a place in the 2022–23 UEFA Europa League group stage. Both the winners and the runners- ...

at the quarter-final stage in their first meeting in the competition since 2006.

Head-to-head statistics

Head-to-head ranking in La Liga (1929–2024)

• Total: Athletic Bilbao with 20 higher finishes, Real Madrid with 73 higher finishes (as of the end of the 2023–24 season).

Notable results

Highest scoring games

9 goals: *Real Madrid 3–6 Athletic Bilbao, January 1947,

*Real Madrid 8–1 Athletic Bilbao, June 1960,

Copa del Generalísimo The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanish f ...

semi-final 8 goals: *Athletic Bilbao 6–2 Real Madrid, March 1950, La Liga *Real Madrid 7–1 Athletic Bilbao, September 1980, La Liga 7 goals: *Real Madrid 5–2 Athletic Bilbao, March 1935, La Liga *Athletic Bilbao 2–5 Real Madrid, November 1950, La Liga *Athletic Bilbao 2–5 Real Madrid, March 2009, La Liga

Biggest wins

7 goal margin: *Real Madrid 8–1 Athletic Bilbao, June 1960, Copa del Generalísimo semi-final 6 goal margin: *Real Madrid 0–6 Athletic Bilbao, January 1931, La Liga *Real Madrid 6–0 Athletic Bilbao, November 1957, La Liga *Real Madrid 7–1 Athletic Bilbao, September 1980, La Liga 5 goal margin: *Athletic Bilbao 5–0 Real Madrid, April 1923,

*Athletic Bilbao 5–0 Real Madrid, February 1970, La Liga *Real Madrid 5–0 Athletic Bilbao, March 1988, La Liga *Real Madrid 5–0 Athletic Bilbao, February 1992, La Liga *Athletic Bilbao 0–5 Real Madrid, January 1996, La Liga *Real Madrid 5–0 Athletic Bilbao, October 2014, La Liga

Personnel at both clubs

Players

Over their long histories, only eleven players have played for both clubs in ''La Liga'' (all Basques, due to Athletic's policy): * Luis Bergareche * Juan Urquizu * Luis María Uribe * Hermenegildo Elices * * *

Manolín Manolín is a nickname and refer to: *Manolín "El Médico de la salsa", Cuban salsa singer *Manolín Bueno (born 1940), Spanish footballer *Manolín (footballer, born 1988), Spanish footballer *Manolín (footballer, born 1928), Spanish footballer ...

Mikel Lasa Mikel Lasa Goikoetxea (born 9 September 1971) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a left-back, currently a manager. He played 267 La Liga matches over 13 seasons (six goals scored), representing Real Sociedad, Real Madrid and A ...

Rafael Alkorta Rafael Alkorta Martínez (born 16 September 1968) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played mainly as a central defender. He is the current sporting director of Athletic Bilbao. Having represented Athletic Bilbao and Real Madrid du ...

Aitor Karanka Aitor Karanka de la Hoz (Basque and ; born 18 September 1973) is a Spanish football manager and former player. Save for a brief spell in the United States at age 32, Karanka played solely in Spain for Athletic Bilbao and Real Madrid, appearing ...

Kepa Arrizabalaga Kepa Arrizabalaga Revuelta (born 3 October 1994), often referred to simply as Kepa, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Chelsea. After progressing through Athletic Bilbao's youth academy, Arrizabalaga be ...

The careers of Alkorta and Karanka closely mirrored one another: both central defenders, each started at Athletic then had a successful spell at Real Madrid before returning to Bilbao, with Karanka – five years younger – actually replacing Alkorta at every turn.

Ismael Urzaiz Ismael Urzaiz Aranda (; born 7 October 1971) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a centre-forward. Best known for his physical strength and aerial ability, the unsuccessful youth graduate at Real Madrid went on to represen ...

, who played over 400 times for Athletic, started his career at Real Madrid's '' La Fabrica'' academy in the 1990s but did not make a league appearance for the club. Decades earlier, others were contracted to both clubs but only appeared in La Liga for one, including José Mandaluniz. Jupp Heynckes

Managers

Five coaches have been at the helm of both clubs: * Lippo Hertzka *

Antonio Barrios Antonio Barrios Seoane (21 May 1910 – 19 August 2002) was a Spanish professional football player and coach. He managed a number of club sides including Real Valladolid, Racing de Santander, Athletic Bilbao, Atlético Madrid, Real Betis, Espa ...

* Baltasar Albéniz *

Juan Antonio Ipiña Juan Antonio Ipiña Iza (born 23 August 1912 in Ortuella, Biscay; died 7 September 1974) was a Spanish footballer and later a manager. He coached Real Madrid CF from April 1952 to May 1953, having played with the club for ten years in the 1940s, ...

Jupp Heynckes Josef "Jupp" Heynckes (; born 9 May 1945) is a German retired professional footballer and manager. For the majority of his playing career he was as a striker for Borussia Mönchengladbach in its golden era of the 1960s and '70s, when they won m ...

The early Madrid player and manager

Arthur Johnson Arthur Johnson may refer to: Sports *Arthur Johnson (athletic director), athletic director for Temple Owls *Arthur Johnson (boxer) (born 1966), U.S. Olympic boxer *Arthur Johnson (rugby league), Widnes and Great Britain 1908/09 - 1922/23 *Arthur Jo ...

is also named by some sources as being manager of Athletic Bilbao, but the club does not include him in the list on their website. Also, in July 2010 Aitor Karanka was appointed assistant manager at Real Madrid by manager

José Mourinho José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Félix (; born 26 January 1963) is a Portuguese professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player, who is currently the head coach of Süper Lig club Fenerba ...

References

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Viejo Clasico Football rivalries in Spain Real Madrid CF Athletic Bilbao Football in the Basque Country (autonomous community) Football in Madrid Politics and sports Recurring sporting events established in 1903 Nicknamed sporting events Spanish words and phrases