Barcelona v Real Madrid. El Clasico. Quite possibly the biggest match in world football. It’s not just Spain, but the world that sits up and takes notice when these two giants of the footballing world collide.

A Derby match that has existed for 107 years (or 89 if you only count when Madrid FC were given their royal prefix in 1920) and embraces everything that the fiercest of rivalries will contain. A constant battle for supremacy and a history based on political oppression and rebellion have set the scene for the most eagerly anticipated fixture in the world.

The man who stands at the centre of this disdain the two clubs hold for each other is General Franco. Whilst the relations between them were hardly the friendliest anyway, as Barca took up the mantle of representing the Catalan region, it was the role of Franco and the Spanish Civil War that led them to become the most bitter of enemies.

Franco was an outspoken Real Madrid fan. He loved the club and used everything in his power to help them retain supremacy over Spanish football. During the civil war, his soldiers shot the then Barcelona president, Josep Sunol dead. For the duration of Franco’s dictatorship, he persecuted the Catalan people (as well as the Basques). Catalan became a banned dialect in Spain, something that was enforced by the police.

There was only one place where people could go and speak Catalan without fear of persecution: The Nou Camp. Hence why Barca’s slogan is ‘More Than A Club’. Barcelona Football Club stands for the entire Catalan region. Whilst Franco’s regime is long gone, they still eye their rivals from the capital with distrust and hatred, as they stand for everything they hate about Spain. Cataluña still strives for independence from Spain, to become its own independent nation.

Despite the downfall of fascism in Spain, Madrid is still seen as the oppressive regime. Franco’s regime was heavily against any outward thinking. Barcelona represents the artists and the thinkers, in a beautiful display of rebellion against those that have tried to crush that. Barcelona is not just a football club; it is a religion. The Nou Camp is their church and the players, their prophets.

But all this off-pitch animosity would mean nothing if the two sides weren’t constantly going head to head in a battle for superiority. This is no local derby, where it’s a simple case of one-upmanship over ‘them across the road.’ This is a battle for supremacy between two conflicting ideologies. This is essentially the Cold War of football.

Take the approach to football that the two clubs now follow. Real Madrid have taken the route of attempting to buy success away from their Catalan rivals in order to keep the capital on top. Barca, on the other hand, have relied heavily on breeding success to give the upper hand to the rebel alliance.

The Galacticos era has really given birth to this clash in cultures, with Florentino Perez keen to shell out any amount of money in order to put Madrid on top. With Zidane, Beckham and the much-maligned Luis Figo joining in the first attempt, Perez has spent nearly €300 million in players, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Xabi Alonso and Karim Benzema. The only thing the clubs seem to agree on is a desire to play attractive football.

However, this is the one fixture in the calendar where the quality of football is not so important, providing they get the result. Hostilities don’t take long to get started, with 90,000 fans whistling at the reading of the Real Madrid team. They also spend the first 15 minutes greeting every Madrid touch in the same fashion. It’s a terrifying cauldron of hate, with noises more reminiscent of a haunted house than a football stadium.

Neither team brings their A game to the team. It rarely happens in a tie where so much rests on the result, not the performance (barring last season’s 6-2 thrashing that Barca handed out at the Bernabeu). The game is scrappy, with both teams being guilty of wasting possession far too easily.

Real have the best chances of the first half, with Ronaldo having a golden opportunity saved by Victor Valdes. But for the vast majority of the game, they find themselves thwarted by the excellence of captain and Catalan hero, Carlos Puyol, in the Barcelona defence.

In the end the game is decided by a sublime volley by Zlatan Ibrahimovic, as he despatches Dani Alves cross in style. The game also receives the obligatory red cards, as Sergio Busquets receives his marching orders just after the hour mark and Lassana Diarra also exits five minutes early.

But, for the third successive match running, it is the brilliant rebels of Barcelona who have the bragging rights over their oppressors in what promises to be an epic struggle between the two this season. Eyes are already fixated on the return fixture in April in a match that could decide the destination of the title. I, for one, can’t wait.