In the first half of the 20th century during the Miguel Primo de Rivera dictatorship, FC Barcelona was the embodiment of the oppressed Catalan sentiment, in stark contrast to RCD Espanyol which cultivated a kind of compliance to the central authority. In 1918, the municipalities of Catalonia promoted a campaign to request the Spanish Government a Statute of Autonomy. FC Barcelona joined that request and the Catalan press explained it by saying "FC Barcelona has become the club of Catalonia". The other team of the city, RCD Espanyol were dissociated from the claim. On numerous occasions RCD Espanyol have complained of an unfavorable treatment which is sometimes directly offensive according to them, towards the club in favor of FC Barcelona by some public media dependent on the Generalitat of Catalonia like TV3. Despite these differences in ideology, the derbi has always been more relevant to Espanyol supporters than Barcelona ones due to the difference in objectives.
Background and history
Though it is the most played local derby in the history of La Liga, it is also the most unbalanced, with Barcelona overwhelmingly [|dominant]. In the league table, Espanyol has only managed to finish above Barça on three occasions in almost 70 years and the only all-Catalan Copa del Rey final was won by Barça in 1957. Espanyol has the consolation of achieving the largest margin win with a 6–0 in 1951. In 1996, Barcelona came out on top when the teams were drawn together in the cup semi-finals, although they lost the final to Atlético Madrid. In 2000, the possibility of another derby final evaporated after Barcelona forfeited the second leg of their semi, coincidentally also against Atlético Madrid, in protest at fixture congestion which badly weakened their squad; Espanyol overcame both Real Madrid in their semi and Atlético in the final. The Pericos also claimed the trophy in 2006 and qualified for the 2006 Supercopa de España where they met league champions Barcelona – the Blaugrana winning 4–0 on aggregate. On 8 June 2007, Espanyol achieved a 2–2 draw against Barça in the penultimate day of the championship, making it possible for Real Madrid to win the 2006–07 La Liga in their next match at the Bernabeu. This match is popularly remembered with the name of Tamudazo, for Raúl Tamudo, the Espanyol player who scored the goal for the draw. Espanyol achieved a 2–1 win against Barça during 2008–09, becoming the first team to defeat Barcelona at Camp Nou in their treble-winning season. Espanyol moved to their new RCDE Stadium in 2009, but it was not until their tenth meeting with Barcelona at their new arena that they were able to win a derby fixture, winning 1–0 in the 2017–18 Copa del Rey quarter-final, first leg on 17 January 2018. However, Barcelona overturned this 2–0 at the Camp Nou the following week to go through in the tie, the tenth time in succession that Barça had progressed in the domestic Cup. Three years earlier, Barcelona had also won the 2014–15 Copa del Rey by beating Athletic Bilbao, with the Basques having ended Espanyol's hopes, and the chance of a Catalan showpiece, in the semi-finals. As of 2019, Barça's Lionel Messi has scored 25 goals against Espanyol, the most in the history of the derby.
The women's teams of Barcelona and Espanyol are among the most successful in Spain, claiming 5 Primera División titles and 12 Copas de la Reina between them since the 1980s. However, since lifting the cup in 2012, Espanyol have not come close to winning either trophy, while Barcelona have grown stronger, building on their league victory that same season with three more consecutive titles and four cup wins in the six subsequent campaigns to 2017–18.
