Great footballing rivalries often run parallel with other dividing factors away from the field of play, and La Liga is no exception. When Barcelona and Real Madrid meet, it’s portrayed as a cultural and political battle, Catalonia taking on the central Spanish state. The biggest derby in the city of Madrid is often talked of as a social one, Atletico associated with the working class and Real Madrid the aspirational. In Seville there’s something a geographical distinction, Betis representing the residential Heliópolis barrio in the south of the city and Sevilla bustling Nervión in the centre. There are a few exceptions though, and when Valencia visit the Riazor this Sunday to take on Deportivo, none of the above categories will really apply – yet animosity will still be thick in the air. Despite hailing from cities some 958 km apart, there is an immense distrust between the two groups of supporters, and it all dates back to May 14th 1994. That day a piece of La Liga history was made, and it’s one Deportivo fans will never forget.
That spring evening some twenty years ago now, Deportivo found themselves on the verge of making history, ninety minutes from securing the club’s first ever La Liga title. Johan Cruyff’s Barcelona trailed the Galicians by a single point in second place, but with only one league fixture left to play, a win for Depor would render anything the Catalans done in their own game against Sevilla redundant. Better still for Deportivo, they were at the Riazor, and opponents Valencia had nothing to play for. What could possibly go wrong?
Nerves, of course. Nerves did indeed get the better of the home players, who time and time again failed to find the back of the net. As the final minute of play approached with the score still at 0-0, fearful whispers echoed around the stadium, the muffled murmurs of countless transistor radios revealing that Barcelona had hammered Sevilla 5-2. Then, hope: Nando, fouled by Ferrer in the Valencia area, won his side a penalty. The only question was who would take it. Regular taker Donato had been subbed off, top scorer Bebeto (who had missed several spot-kicks already that season) opted out. The responsibility fell upon the shoulders of defender Miroslav Djukic, but with Valencia reserve keeper Jose Gonzalez between the sticks, the odds were still with the home team. Those odds meant nothing in the end: Djukic, indecisive, neither produced power nor placement. Gonzalez collected comfortably and pumped his fists in the air in a gesture of celebration. Depor had thrown away the league. Instead, it was Barcelona who made history, winning their fourth title in a row under Cruyff.
Deportivo fans tend to resist turning on their own, and instead of blaming Djukic, they found the perfect enemy in Valencia, unable to shake the image of Gonzalez and his triumphant celebrations. In all likelihood there was a financial incentive for the Valencia players from Barcelona, adding insult to injury for the Galicians. From that day forward the rivalry between Deportivo and Los Che has sustained, intensified by the years of success that would soon follow for both clubs.
At the turn of the 2000s, both teams were competing for the right to call themselves Spain’s third power, steadily chipping away at the dominance of Barcelona and Real Madrid. The Galicians finally won their first league in 2000, while at the same time Valencia were busy making it to back-to-back Champions League finals – Djukic somewhat ironically playing in both. Things really reached boiling point in 2002, when Valencia beat Deportivo in direct competition for the league. It didn’t end there however: a Copa del Rey win for the latter side ensured both would meet in the Supercopa at the end of the summer, and it wasn’t exactly a cordial occasion.
Depor wrapped the tie up within 31 minutes of the first leg, going 3-0 up at the Riazor, but given the opponents were Valencia, the home fans found something to get annoyed about regardless. The subject of their ire that night was keeper Santi Cañizares, who was pelted by missiles, and reacted to the impact of one projectile by falling to the ground. Home supporters claimed his collapse was an act of provocation, and even the local press went to town. La Voz de Galicia, the biggest paper of the region, had this to say:
“Cañizares once again done what Cañizares does. After being unable to help his team in 90 minutes, after being unable to avoid a hammering, after doing nothing of note to convince Iñaki Sáez he should return to the (Spain) number one spot, then… his provocative side came out. When the team walked back towards the tunnel he deliberately lagged behind to make himself the perfect target for the crowd. The fans in the stands recriminated him for his arrogance, and maybe it seems, some fans done so in a bad way, practicing tiro al plato (clay pigeon shooting) with him. The player himself could have been the first person to avoid that scenario if he had left the pitch with the rest of his team. But the bleach-blonde goalkeeper loves to show off, and the Riazor obliged.”
As the 2000s progressed, Valencia and Deportivo’s respective challenges to the big two slowly faded, but their rivalry stayed alive. Boiling point was reached when the two met in the quarter-finals of the 2006 Copa del Rey. Depor won the first leg 1-0 at the Riazor thanks to a penalty from Sergio, and Valencia fans, who saw the partisan crowd as key in convincing the referee to award the spot kick, looked to turn the heat up just as much in the return game at the Mestalla. Unfortunately, the intense atmosphere only worked against them: Carlos Marchena was sent off early on, and less than a minute after David Villa drew the tie level on aggregate, one of the referee’s assistants was struck with a coin from the crowd. The game was suspended and the second half played behind closed doors a week later, with Valencia also fined. After play resumed Los Che managed to score again, going 2-1 up on aggregate, yet almost as soon as that had happened, David Albelda was harshly judged to have fouled Senel in the Valencia area. Megia converted and Valencia were out, a penalty once again playing its part stirring up the hatred between the two sides.
To make matters more interesting, a quirk of the La Liga calendar meant the two sides met once more the following Saturday, a night that was immortalised by David Villa’s stunning strike from the half-way line. Valencia fans claimed justice had been served, but Depor’s own supporters didn’t forget in a hurry. When El Guaje was sent off in a 2008/09 league clash at the Riazor, the home support greeted the decision with a chorus of “Villa, you bastard, get out of the Riazor”. It wasn’t exactly poetic, but it summed up their sentiments perfectly.
Two years after that ode to Villa, the Riazor was once again the stage for an encounter of huge significance between the teams. This time it wasn’t a league title at stake, but Deportivo’s very survival in the top flight, a perfect symbol of how far they had fallen. Once again the final fixture of the league season, the home team only needed a draw to avoid relegation, and fittingly, just like in 1994, Valencia had nothing to play for after already sealing their Champions League spot. Things didn’t look good for Deportivo when Aritz Aduriz scored for Valencia early on, and the home team proceeded to squander a number of good chances. With minutes left to play, Roberto Soldado wrapped the game and Deportivo’s fate up by adding Valencia’s second, yet as the final whistle blew something quite unique happened. In a rare moment of peace between the two teams, the Valencia players opted not to celebrate their opponent’s woes, the Riazor for once not provoked into an angry response. The images of Deportivo and Spanish football legend Juan Carlos Valeron breaking down in tears summed up the solemnity of the occasion.
The ceasefire didn’t last. In the two encounters between the teams in the 2012/13 La Liga season there were a total of three red cards and fifteen bookings. This week, one of the front covers of Galician sports daily DXT featured the Valencia badge within crosshairs, a clear message of intent. With the fortunes of the two clubs once again shifting, further fuel has been added to the fire. This Sunday Deportivo are looking for only their second league win of the season, while with Peter Lim’s takeover of Valencia all but complete, Los Che are now once again aspiring to big things and perhaps even trophy wins. Depor supporters may be concerned first and foremost with staying up, but they would like nothing more than to end Valencia’s unbeaten run of seven matches and dent the momentum their rivals are building. Los Che, for their part, will see a good opportunity to make a further statement at the Riazor, a ground that has proven a solid hunting ground for them in the past. Titles, red cards, penalties, conspiracies and relegation: something always happens in this fixture. Sunday isn’t likely to be an exception.
Lee Roden 