5 clubs overshadowed by their city rivals
Barcelona were held to a 1-1 draw by their local rivals Espanyol yesterday, and it was one of the most contentious derbies in recent times. The teams had played twice before in only the past 3 weeks, in the Copa del Rey quarter-final. Barcelona went through 2-1 on aggregate after Espanyol were deemed to have celebrated too wildly after winning the first-leg.
Gerard Pique then referred to the club as 'Espanyol de Cornella', a perceived insult as this place is actually a small suburb of the city of Barcelona. The record over the 3 recent games stands as 1 win apiece with 1 draw, something Espanyol can be reasonably proud of.
They have been, however, massively overshadowed by their rivals throughout their history. This is a common occurrence throughout European football as 1 local team rises above the other through their fan base and success rate. This slideshow will look at 5 European clubs, including unfortunate Espanyol, who are overshadowed by their city rivals:
#5 Torino (Rivals - Juventus)
The tale of this rivalry is stained with tragedy: in the 1940's, Torino had a sensational side that won 5 league titles before a plane crash killed all 31 members on board the plane. They wouldn't win another league until 1976, all of their great work of that decade cruel undone so quickly.
At that point, the Turin rivals were only 1 league trophy apart in terms of honours but since then, Juventus have been crowned Serie A champions 33 times, with Torino remaining on just 7.
Torino have never been able to return to heir glory days and have spent much of the last few decades in Serie B, meaning the derby hasn't been played as much as it used to be. As is often the distinction, Torino were defined as the club of the working class while Juventus, owned by the wealthy Agnelli family, were known for their educated, middle-class fan base.
Torino have always been up against it, and whenever the rivals do meet, the games are fiercely contested; Torino will always wonder what could have been, had tragedy not struck down their famous side.