Atleti gearing up to face sibling rival Bilbao
Atletico Madrid and Athletic Club meet at the Wanda Metropolitano on Sunday (AEDT), an encounter which brings together two clubs whose stories have been intertwined right from the very start.
Today’s Atletico Madrid was established back in April 1903 as “Athletic Club de Madrid,” with the founders being Basque fans of Athletic Club de Bilbao who were studying in the Spanish capital and who wanted to maintain the connection with their team.
Athletic Club de Madrid naturally took its colours from its ‘parent’ club, which had been established five years previously. Both initially wore blue and white chequered shirts, before switching to their current red and white stripes in 1911 after famously receiving a set of jerseys originally made for English club Southampton.
The two Athletics were so close during their early years that they were not allowed meet in official competition. They even shared players at times; the Madrid side’s star forward Manuel Garnica Serrano was ‘loaned’ to the Basques for the 1911 Copa del Rey final and he clinched the goal against CD Espanyol of Barcelona.
As Spanish football gradually became more formalised and professional, the two Athletics drifted apart. In 1921 the Bilbao side was crowned national champion after a 4-1 win over their Madrid ‘brothers’ at San Mames. Full autonomy was well established by the time they were both became founder members of LaLiga in 1928-1929. A first top-flight meeting came on April 7th 1929 at the Estadio Metropolitano in Madrid, with the visitor winning 3-2.
Games between the two have often been fiercely contested through the decades, as most sibling rivalries can turn heated at times. A famous 6-6 LaLiga draw in January 1950 saw Moroccan-born Larbi Benbarek among the scorers in a last gasp Atletico comeback. Athletic’s 4-1 victory at San Mames with 10 men in October 1982 was a key victory on the way to winning that season’s LaLiga title.
A 2-1 victory at San Mames in April 2014 has been acknowledged by current Atletico coach Diego Simeone as the moment he knew his team really had what it took to take home that season’s LaLiga crown.
There have also been famous meetings in other competitions. The 1956 Copa del Rey final saw Athletic win 2-1 in Madrid. Atletico came out on top 3-0 when the two rojiblanco teams met in the 2011-2012 Europa League final in Bucharest, its only meeting to date in UEFA competition.
Connections between the teams continue to this day. Athletic’s sporting director Jose Maria Amorrortu was Academy Director at Atletico from 2006 to 2011, working with current first team stars including Koke, Lucas Hernandez and Saul Ñiguez before moving north and helping to develop local Basque talents including Iñaki Williams and Iker Muniain.
Current Athletic player Raul Garcia made 216 LaLiga appearances for Atletico between 2007 and 2015. The Pamplona-born midfielder’s goal in the 1-1 draw at San Mames last season means he is one of very few to have scored for both sides in the fixture.
The sibling rivalry now continues on Saturday November 10th at the Wanda Metropolitano, when Simeone's Atletico will host Eduardo Berizzo's Athletic in LaLiga Santander. Fans and players on both sides are sure to enjoy the occasion, although past ties will count for little with three points on the line.
