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“Wanted: Worthy Rival for a Decent Derby.” Oh, they got that alright. It was November 2011, more than a decade into a long, long run of dominance from Real Madrid and their fans were getting bored, or so they claimed. They said they actually wanted Atletico Madrid to give them a game for once: it wasn’t much fun when it wasn’t much of a match. And so, they mocked up a classified advert that they lifted up at the south end of the Santiago Bernabeu stadium “appealing” for their opponents to be a slightly less useless football team. Laughing at them, in other words. It was so easy to do, after all.
Be careful what you wish for.
– Real Madrid vs. Atletico Madrid, stream LIVE, 12/12, 2:30 p.m. ET
The Madrid derby has always been special, even when for a while it wasn’t very special because it was just too much of a foregone conclusion. There are loads of good stories too, loads of quirks going all the way back to the day they met in 1903, the first of 227 matches between them, and loads of personalities, too.
Santiago Bernabeu, the man who was Real Madrid, but played for Atletico for a few months in 1920-21 – “treason,” one former teammate called it. Atlético president and owner Jesus Gil, the man who loved to have a go at Real, telling his players that he would not pay them if they didn’t knock Madrid out of the Copa del Rey in 1994 — and then following through with that threat. Helenio Herrera, the man taking Atletico to the title twice, while still accusing Real of playing with 12 men.
There was German Burgos saving a penalty with his nose, blood everywhere. Brazilian Ronaldo…
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Source : espn
