#basque derby

El mister has called up: Iraizoz, Toquero, Laporte, San José, Beñat, Iturraspe, De Marcos, Ibai, Iago Herrerín, Susaeta, Iraola, Mikel Rico, Gurpegi, Muniain, Aduriz, Ander Herrera, Ekiza and Balenziaga.

  Our first match of the new year and second derby of the season will be played at Anoeta in Donostia and begins at 20:00 CET, 2:00pm EST and 11:00 PST. 

This next Friday San Mamés will set the scene for the last Athletic-Real Sociedad (game), the sixty-sixth game in the history of “La Catedral,” before it is to be demolished at the end of this season and left to remember a chapter of 84 years of this clásico is loaded with rivalry and unforgettable moments for both clubs.

The first of these moments was played on the 28th of April in 1929 and Athletic came out on top 4-2 after answering back to the visitor’s goals scored by Cholín and Kiriki with two goals from Unamuno, one from Juanín (a penalty), and one more from Mandaluniz.

The biggest win for the locals was the 7-0 from the 1934-1935 season with goals from Bata (3), Elices (2), Mandaluniz, and Careaga and the biggest win for Real Sociedad was the 1-4 of the 1987-1988 season where Aiarza scored for Athletic, and Begiristain (2), Bakero, and Loren for La Real.

Bilbao especially remembers the game from the 29th of April in 1984, when one goal from Iñigo Liceranzu, with 11 minutes remaining, gave the team from Bilbao a 2-1 and with this, their last league title, which sits in their awards case.

Also transcendental, although not very well known, was the 2-1 of the 18th of May in 1975 where Athletic won a vital game to escape relegation in the next to last game of the season thanks to 2 goals from Carlos Ruiz, the last Rojiblanco “pichichi,” which overcame the initial goal of Gaztelu.

La Real also achieved the same goal of remaining in La Primera during a derby in San Mamés, with a definitive 1-3 on the 16th of June in 2001 after goals from Jankauskas, De Pedro, and Idiakez (a penalty).

This was exactly the last La Real win in Bilbao, since then the 8 clásicos ended with 7 local wins and one draw, the 1-1 of the 2006-2007 season, was the last time the “txuri urdin” were relegated, and Aduriz and Aranburu ended up on the score sheet.

Athletic’s 3-0 wins which were in the 2002-2003, 2004-2005, and 2005-2006 seasons; the 2-1 wins in the 2001-2002 and 2010-2011 seasons, the 1-0 win which was in the 2003-2004 season, and the 2-0 of the last season reflect a good winning streak (in the derbies) by Athletic.

The 65 Athletic-Real Sociedad matches show an output of 37 wins from the locals, 11 from the visitors, and 17 draws, with 136 goals in Athletic’s favor and 67 for La Real.

The Basque derby is this Friday. Some of us have to work. And by "some of us" I mean "me." 

"El derbi del futbol de cantera."

"My name is Inigo Martinez. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

We have yet another "goal of the year" candidate for European football as Martinez put this strike in all the way from behind the midfield marker for Real Sociedad in the Basque derby against Athletic Bilbao. Martinez's goal was the equalizer, but Fernando Llorente's brace for Athletic gave new manager Marcelo "El Loco" Bielsa his first win as the man in charge of San Mames.