Even when I was a lad growing up Real Madrid were the biggest ... had won 5 ECs before United won in '68 ... my old man was telling me stories about Puskas and Di Steffano ... What planet has HIAG been living on?
HIAG, does this mean you’re accepting Chelsea and Arsenal are much, much, much bigger than Spurs then?
I have a Spanish Barca supporting mate here. Every time I try to wind him up about Real winning the first five European Cups, he says “No, Franco” So, Barca supporters won’t count those five as they say Franco stole them.
I remember watching the European Cup final against Sampdoria back in the early 90s ... hard to believe that was Barca's first ever EC win ...
Is that not just standard football fan bitterness though? Probably plenty of similar examples over here.
You have to remember than back then Spain was a dictatorship run by Franco. Tbf to them, it would surprise no-one to find out that Franco gave whatever help he could to Real.
Indeed - Barca were very much new kids on the block when it came to Europe's most prestigious tournament ... done all right since mind... largely down to that ineffectual player if he ever came to the EPL
Still Real's bitches though. Everyone waxing lyrical about Barca being best team ever and Real come along and win four out of five EC's
A lot of older Spanish fans despise Real because they were Franco’s team. There’s still a lot of festering resentment left over from that era, though it mostly goes unspoken. My ex’s dad was a refugee from Franco’s regime. An Atletico fan, he would spit when anyone mentioned Real - that wasn’t just about football.
Also, while there are very few people left alive now, who lived through the civil war, most people had family members who were caught up in that in some way.
