The most heated Madrid derby in ages takes place tonight

A Madrid derby, match between Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid, takes place tonight as part of matchday 23 of LaLiga. Arguably the most important football match in Spanish football after the Clásico, this match pits the two biggest teams in the Spanish capital, a rivalry that divides the city in half and, sometimes, goes beyond the sporting matters.

This time, the match, played at the Bernabéu, is more interesting than ever, because the winner will take LaLiga leadership: Real Madrid has 49 points, Atlético has 48. On their previous encounter, Atlético earned a last minute 1-1 draw.

However, outside of the purely sporting importance, the match takes place in an atmosphere more heated than usual, after the letter Real Madrid published earlier this week, almost a war declaration to the "corrupted" refereeing system in Spain, believing that referees are intentionally harming the club. A complaint that caused widespread outrage within LaLiga (their president claimed that Real Madrid "have lost their minds" and most clubs.

But no club was as warring as Atlético de Madrid, which has decided to protest against the "abusive" power of Real Madrid with irony, posting a "statement" saying that they want "to express our full support and solidarity to the entire team of referees, their families and friends". "These are very difficult days for the football community, stay strong".

Earlier, they posted a comic strip parodying Ikea for "Derby instructions", including "Step 4: use your arme of media buddies to spread you ramblings". And, in the Spanish account, they posted synonims of "intimidate", "coerce", "bully", "influence"...

Meanwhile, Real Madrid social account didn't respond to the taunting, but some Madrid fans hanged a banner in the Madrid's betlway road, saying "eternos segundones", "forever second-best".

Certainly, a more harmless banner than the one Atleti fans hanged in 2023, saying that "Madrid hates Real" with a hanged Vinícius puppet...