A study reveals that Barcelona fans hate Real Madrid more than Madridistas hate FC Barcelona. 37% of Catalans would erase their eternal rival from the map, compared to only 24% of whites.
This Sunday, the next edition of El Clasico will take place, with FC Barcelona and Real Madrid facing different realities: a Barca team very close to being champions and in good form, against a Madrid team that seems to have a divided locker room. However, this match is always interesting, regardless of the teams' form.
The fan bases of both teams hate each other too much, but, yes, with different intensity. As shown by the study 'Love and Hate in Spain: football as religion. This is how we Spaniards are as a football tribe,' which mentions an interesting difference. Barcelona fans hate Real Madrid more than Madrid fans hate Barcelona.
The data it shows is concise: 37% of Barcelona fans would wipe Real Madrid off the face of the earth if they could. While the percentage of Madrid fans who want the same for the Catalan team is 24%, a considerable difference.
The next question in the survey was: "Who is the favorite team in Spain?" With a fairly clear answer, Spain belongs to Real Madrid, with 35.1% of followers, above Barcelona’s 27.4%. Followed by Atletico Madrid with 7%, Real Betis with 6.2%, Athletic Bilbao with 5.9%, Sevilla with 4%, and Valencia with 3.6%.
Moving from favorite to most hated, the teams at the top remain Barcelona and Real Madrid, with 33.9% and 33.8%, respectively. Followed by Atletico Madrid and Sevilla, both with 4.4%, Girona with 3.1%, Espanyol with 2.7%, and Getafe with 2.3%.
Another aspect of the survey where Barcelona again shows its hatred for Real Madrid is in the question: Do you want to see your team champion and the eternal rival relegated to the second division? where the Barca fans are in first place, with 11% wanting to see Madrid relegated. While on the other side, 7% of Madrid fans want Barcelona’s relegation over being crowned champions.
The interesting part came at the end of the survey, where they were asked how they would experience football if their eternal rival did not exist. Again, Barcelona leads with 70% of fans who think that if Real Madrid did not exist, it would become ‘boring.’ Followed by 67% of Madrid fans who think the same if Barcelona did not exist.
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