Clasico fever in Barcelona

Forget the UEFA Champions League; forget Ronaldinho's missed penalty against Sevilla; forget Capello and Rijkaard and Schuster and any other topical traumas of Spain's two biggest clubs. Why? Because they are about to play one another.

The fixture is rich with history, dating back to the early days of the 20th century and remaining strong right up to the first years of the present one. Even in the early days there were social tensions built upon the idea that Madrid FC - as they were known before 1920 - represented the Castile region of Spain and central government, while FC Barcelona epitomised Catalan independence and Barcelona as a vibrant up-and-coming city.

In those days the only national competition was the Copa del Rey, with Barça competing in the Catalan championship. The clubs were founder members of La Liga in 1928 and to date are two of only three clubs who have never been relegated from Spain's top division - the other being Basque Athletic Club.

The match feels unlike any other that is contested throughout the planet, including the famous encounters between Manchester United and Liverpool, the Milan, Rome and Sevilla derbies or indeed Boca Juniors versus River Plate in Argentina.

The mutual hatred felt by the supporters of the two clubs has been nursed and developed over the decades by historical events, many of them as political as they are controversial. The most saddening of these occurred in 1936 at the very beginning of the Spanish civil war, when Barça president Josep Sunyol - a proud Catalan and political activist previously opposed to the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera - was captured by Francoist forces and executed.

It is important to note that despicable deeds such as this were not exclusively perpetrated upon FC Barcelona. Another Republican, Rafael Sanchez Guerra, was president of Real Madrid at the time that civil war broke out and consequently jailed and tortured before managing to escape his fascist captors.

Even one of the most famous football players of all time - and certainly Real Madrid's - was caught up in the maelstrom of the enmity between the Blaugrana and Los Merengues. Alfredo Di Stefano arrived in Spain ready to sign for Barcelona, a transfer rubber-stamped by FIFA. However the Spanish FA refused to allow Di Stefano to sign in Catalonia and instead brokered a deal that meant he would play two seasons in the white of Madrid, and two in the blue and maroon of Barcelona.

This is a prime example of how interpretations of history dye the fabric of this derby match. Di Stefano never played for Barça: instead he remained in Madrid for 11 years and helped them achieve the status they hold so famously today - that of the Vikings rampaging throughout Europe as he helped them to five consecutive European Cups. While the club that have made him an honorary president claims to this day that their rivals willingly allowed them to keep the talented Argentine, Barcelona insist that the fascist powers were responsible for hijacking the transfer and stealing him away.

A source of contention among Culers - the traditional Catalan name for fans of Barcelona - is this Madrileno brag about the number of European titles. The ratio in Madrid's favour is currently 9:2, and that following the success of Frank Rijkaard's team last season. Madrid have also won more domestic league crowns, although Barça are more successful in the Copa del Rey.

The dark days of oppression under Franco - for all of Spain, it must be noted: people could not even gather in groups of more than three on the streets of the nation's capital - meant that following Barcelona's move to the Camp Nou in 1957 the 'Estadi' was the only safe place for people to converse in Catalan, banned until Franco's death in 1975 along with all other regional languages.

It is for reasons such as this that the reign of the Generalissimo is seen as the most poignant pivot around which the rivalry between the clubs alternates. Despite the presence of swastikas in the Santiago Bernabeu in the mid-nineties, waved by the militant Ultras Sur, the best-known Barcelona supporters group - the Boixos Nois - contains elements of right-wing extremism also, complicating their hatred of their Madrid equivalent.

There have also of course been many conflicts upon the football pitch. Real Madrid have boasted Ferenc Puskas, scorer of two hat-tricks against Barcelona in the same season; Francisco Gento; Hugo Sanchez; Zinedine Zidane. Barça frequently hark back to the days of Sandor Kocsis; Ladislao Kubala; Johan Cruyff; Diego Maradona.

All undoubtedly great players, but it is those who have represented both clubs that help illuminate the backdrop against which this biannual battle is fought. Gheorghe Hagi and Bernd Schuster have done so and emerged unscathed, indeed respected by both sets of fans; Ronaldo, who scored in the Camp Nou to earn Madrid a credible draw last season, is remembered fondly for his dazzling speed and skill in the one season he played for Barça, not to mention the incredible return of almost a goal a game before he departed for an injury-plagued spell at Internazionale.

The same cannot be said for Luis Figo. He has come to epitomise the rivalry between the two powerhouses of Spanish football: after five successful years in Barcelona the Portugal legend left in 2000 as the first component of Real Madrid's much-vaunted and -maligned policy of recruiting world class players, begun by new president Florentino Perez, who had promised Figo as part of his election pledge.

Figo 'took the money' as Barca would have it; the fans were livid that their captain and iconic creative winger could walk out on them directly to their greatest rivals. Upon his return the players on both teams had to put their hands over their ears, such was the cascade of dissonance that poured down from the stands. The game had to be halted after a glass bottle and severed pig's head were thrown at him as he took a corner: the home players had to calm their supporters down while Madrid sought refuge in the dressing room.

It is believed that Figo even deliberately earned a yellow card in order to avoid having to travel to the away leg of the Champions League semi-final between the pair in 2002. They did not need him: Zidane and Steve McManaman scored the goals as Madrid ran out 2-0 winners in Barcelona and Figo returned in the Bernabeu as a 1-1 draw saw them into the final and eventually crowned champions of Europe.

Although Madrid triumphed 2-0 in the capital earlier this season, the match most people will remember in recent memory was last season's equivalent. Brazil magician Ronaldinho skipped around his opponents like they did not exist on two occasions to help deliver a 3-0 sucker-punch in a match usually dominated by the home team - and became only the second Barça player ever, after Diego Maradona, to be openly applauded by the Madrid faithful.

Will the home team dominate this time? With Liga leaders Sevilla and third-placed Valencia playing on Sunday, the game presents an excellent opportunity for either Barça to return to the summit, or Madrid to close the gap.

But as anyone who has sat through this fixture will bear witness: there is much more than three points at stake.