The Basque Derby between Athletic Club and Real Sociedad has become one of the most important fixtures in LaLiga history, one packed full of history and importance... and anecdotes. Here's three things you should know before this weekend's showdown...
1. This fixture has directly yielded championships
The start of the 1980s was dominated by Basque football. Real Sociedad won the league title in the 1980/81 and 1981/82 seasons, before Athletic Club took the LaLiga Santander crown east to Bilbao in 1982/83 and 1983/84. Incredibly, both clubs actually won one of their titles through this derby. La Real defeated Athletic 2-1 on the final day of the 1981/82 campaign to pip FC Barcelona to the title, before a 2-1 Athletic victory in the derby two years later saw the title go to Bilbao and not to Real Madrid.
2. Some of LaLiga's most iconic players, past and present, have played in this fixture
Athletic are renowned for only fielding players of Basque origin but they have still boasted some of the most famous players in LaLiga history, including prolific goalscorer Telmo Zarra, goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta and cultured playmaker Julen Guerrero. All eyes are now on the current side's stars: Iñaki Williams, who boasts LaLiga's all-time record for consecutive matches, forever young captain Iker Muniain, and Spain's number one between the sticks Unai Simón.
La Real used to have a similar policy of fielding only Basque players but broke with tradition to bring in Liverpool striker John Aldridge in the late-1980s. While the likes of Darko Kovačević and Nihat Kahveci have starred up front in the past, today's side is spearheaded by Spanish players Mikel Oyarzabal, Mikel Merino, Brais Méndez and David Silva.
3. Real Sociedad had never knocked Athletic out the cup – until a very special cup final in 2021!
For many years Athletic had the better of La Real in the Copa del Rey, coming out on top in all three ties the teams contested. The team from Bilbao won 5-1 on aggregate during the 1960/61 last 16, 3-1 on aggregate in the 1971/72 quarter-finals and via a penalty shootout in the 1974/75 quarter-finals after a 4-4 draw on aggregate.
Yet all that changed in 2021, when Real Sociedad beat their closest rivals 1-0 in a hard fought 2020 Copa del Rey final, postponed for a year due to the COVID crisis. A goal from club icon Mikel Oyarzabal was enough to separate the two sides, handing La Real their first title in 34 years in the sweetest possible way. Good things come to those who wait, as they say.
