Real vs Atletico: 5 important facts you may not know about the Madrid derby

With the city of Madrid boasting two of the very best teams in Spanish and European football history the capital city rivalry is an exciting and fascinating one So much historyhellip but here are five things you might not know about the fixture1 Atletico were formed in reaction to Real MadridA group of Basque students living in Madrid attended the firstever Copa del Rey final in 1903 between Bilbaorsquos Athletic Club and Madrid FC the team that would go on to become Real Madrid They disliked the way Madrid FC played and 18 days later created a Madridbased subsidiary of Athletichellip which would go on to become Atleacutetico de Madrid2 Atletico once went 14 years without a derby win but itrsquos a very different story nowBetween 1999 and 2013 Atletico de Madrid endured derby hell They didnrsquot win in 25 meetings with Real Madrid until the arrival of Diego Simeone eventually changed their fortunes Since that rojiblancos victory the derby balance has shifted theyrsquove won 9 of the 31 derbies played since then while also drawing 11 and losing 11 all competitions The record in LaLiga Santander is 4 victories and 4 defeats in 16 derbies3 Atletico fans began the tradition of celebrating at Cibeles fountain not Real MadridDuring the 1970s the tradition of celebrating titles with fellow fans of your team at certain points in the city began to emerge in Spanish football The Cibeles fountain located in the very centre of Madrid emerged as an ideal meeting point for such fans and though today closely associated with Real Madrid it was actually Atleti fans to first started to hold their celebrations there after a LaLiga title win in 1977 Over time other fans began to copy them and it became the fan meeting point in the city for title wins throughout the 1980s Real Madrid fans would celebrate the victories of the iconic Quinta del Buitre generation there By the time Atletico won another title in 1991 ndash the Copa del Rey ndash Cibeles had become so closely associated with Real Madrid that their fans decided to move their celebrations 600 metres down the cityrsquos Paseo de la Castellana avenue to Neptunes fountain 4 This used to be a bigger fixture than El ClasicoToday Real Madridrsquos archrivals are FC Barcelona but the Madrid derby was a bigger deal in the first couple of decades after the Spanish Civil War ended in 1939 As the alltime great Alfredo Di Steacutefano once said ldquoForget Barcelonahellip the team that can frustrate us is Atleacuteticordquo5 Nine of Atleticorsquos Copa del Rey wins have come at the BernabeacuteuReal Madridrsquos Santiago Bernabeu stadium is funnily enough a very special place for Atletico de Madrid fans Los Colchoneros have won the Copa del Rey on 10 occasions with a remarkable nine of those successes coming at their arch rivalsrsquo stadium Of their 10 cup final successes only the 1996 victory against FC Barcelona was held at a different ground Real Zaragozarsquos La Romareda