Barcelona and Real Madrid have their bitter hatred of each other rooted in history and politics, but these days keeping the rivalry well fuelled is as much about financial gain and publicity.

The two sides go head-to-head on Saturday at Camp Nou in a duel that has little to do with the Catalan giants’ current domination in the league.

Pre-match rhetoric has already begun in Spain's four daily sports newspapers, two of which support the Madrilenians, while two support the Catalans.

This year the Madrid-based hacks have had their work cut out when trying to criticise Barça, as Pep Guardiola’s team are proving to be head and shoulders above their arch-rivals while the crisis at the Bernabéu appeared to be worsening.

The build-up, the hype and the propaganda are what make this one of the most attractive fixtures in world football, but how much of the traditional rivalry still remains?

Barcelona supporters have always believed that Real Madrid symbolised General Franco's regime that ruled Spain from 1939 until 1975.

The team in all white came to represent the dictator himself and Catalans used the team's visits to vent their resentment for the oppression of the province.

Madrilenians in turn saw the Blaugrana as the figurehead of a separatist movement that represented the exact opposite of their own ideals.

The Franco years are littered with accusations of match rigging, bribery, and extreme partisanship as trouble raged both on and off the field when the two teams met.

The winning side would always crow and taunt the defeated, while the losers would claim that the matches were already decided before
kick-off and that they never stood a chance.

One famous incident, that is still likely to open old wounds when mentioned, is the Alfredo Di Stefano transfer saga in the 1950s.

The passing of time has led both sides to accuse the other of underhand dealings, with the Catalans still claiming that Madrid used their political influence to stop the Argentine star lining up alongside their hero Ladislao Kubala.

But the facts shed a very different light on proceedings.

The Di Stefano Saga

Di Stefano was playing in Colombia for Millonarios, where the supporters adored him, while River Plate still held his registration.

During a tour of Spain, he was spotted by Barcelona who immediately contacted River and the Buenos Aires side agreed that he could join the Catalans if Millonarios agreed.

But the Colombians were furious that River had agreed to the deal and said that he would never leave their club.

Their anger reached boiling point when Barça persuaded the player to abandon the club during a trip to Venezuela and he publicly vowed never to return to Colombia.

While Millonarios refused to discuss any transfer under the circumstances and Barça refused to return him, Real Madrid made an approach and offered a large sum of money to both River and the Colombians for his services.

The ensuing dogfight finally saw the intervention of the Spanish FA who ruled that both clubs could share the player, with Madrid having him for the 1953/54 and 1955/56 seasons and Barça for the 1954/55 and 1956/57 campaigns.

But the sudden resignation of Barcelona president Marti Carreto caused chaos at the club and the interim administration cancelled the deal as they sought a new leader and Di Stefano was left to sign for Los Merengues.

He went on to help Madrid lift the first five European Cups ever played and become one of the world’s most revered players, playing alongside the equally famous Ferenc Puskas.

It was a highly embarrassing episode for Barça, who allowed such a talented player to join their bitter rivals without any help or interference from the government of the time.

Since the end of Franco’s reign such confrontations have been rare, but Luis Figo changed all that eight seasons ago when he switched allegiance, despite being a hero to the Barça faithful, in a move that reflected the Di Stefano saga.

After becoming an idol at Camp Nou, Figo demanded that the club reward him with a pay rise matching that of the best players in the world or he may have to move elsewhere.

Rumours abounded that he had signed a pre-contract with Madrid and that if Madrid’s presidential candidate Florentino Perez won control of the club he would move to the Spanish capital.

Calling His Bluff

Barcelona played Figo’s bluff and refused to meet his terms and in June 2000 he confirmed the rumours by honouring his agreement with the newly-installed Madrid supremo and signing for the European Cup holders.

The Catalans were outraged and showed their incredulity when he returned to Camp Nou in the white of Los Merengues in October of the same year.

The build-up to the game had an extra edge and the Catalan press took full advantage, branding him a Judas and encouraging the club’s supporters to give their former hero a ‘special’ welcome back.

Missiles rained down from the stands every time he ventured close to the touchline, while the crescendo of noise and the banners that questioned his morality, parentage and greed made the game a ferocious encounter. Barcelona won 2-0.

But Barcelona needed to hate Madrid and Real needed to hate them back if the worldwide interest in the historic encounter was to be maintained and the money was to keep on rolling in.

The interest, revenue and publicity that each action and word that is aimed in the other's direction creates a real air of excitement as two of the biggest clubs in world football slug it out for supremacy.

The game itself is watched by millions - not just in Spain, but all over the world; and the interest is fuelled by the public slanging matches and the re-drawing of battle lines before every meeting.

With Franco gone, Catalunya is enjoying greater autonomy than Northern Ireland, Scotland or Corsica, while the government now has the kind of power and financial control that some European governments will never have, and the painful memories of the dictatorship are slowly healing.

There are those that want Catalunya to be a separate country and there are those that would like it to fall back under Spanish control, but with neither likely to happen in the foreseeable future, the rivalry between the two factions is now fought on other fronts.

The directors, the players, the press and, more specifically, the supporters of both clubs, who need each other as much as Spanish football needs them, fight the fight and keep the flame of hatred burning.

So the hype to this clash is already reaching a crescendo and when both sides enter the field it will be a battle to let the world know who is the best, as much as to settle some historical scores.

Lucas Brown, Goal.com