How the intense Espanyol vs. Barcelona rivalry runs hotter than El Clasico

BARCELONA, Spain – Flares, chants laced with cursing, grown men jumping in unison, drunken screaming, a notable police presence and a generally boisterous and abusive crowd all factored into Saturday’s Catalan derby between FC Barcelona and the Royal Sports Club of Espanyol.

Don’t let the full-time 3-0 score line fool you. Saturday in Barcelona was a fight.

While the vast majority of Barcelona and Catalonia waves flags of the province and silently nods in agreement at the talk of independence from Spain, Espanyol is a club loyal to the crown to such an extent that it sits on the top of the club emblem. Estadio Cornelia El-Prat is probably the one place in Barcelona where Lionel Messi is cursed openly.

Those brave enough to don Messi shirts and not sit in the Barcelona visitors’ section seemingly all spoke French, English, German or any other non-Catalan tongue. Local Barcelona supporters seemingly knew better than to go to the home of Espanyol and mingle with the home crowd.

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Whenever the obvious tourists would inevitably pose for pictures dressed in Messi shirts, curses could be heard under breaths.

During the match, though, the curses for Messi and Neymar, who made his return following a controversial ban for ironically applauding an official, could most accurately be described as rage-filled abuse. “Favela” is what they called Neymar, attempting to downgrade the Brazilian as nothing more than a poor boy from the Brazil slums. “Falta” could have been mistaken for a nickname for Messi, but in truth, the fans seemingly wanted their side to kick lumps out of the Argentine every time he touched the ball. Often, the home team obliged.

Gerard Pique, who is the most vocal voice for Catalan independence at Barcelona, heard the most yelling and screaming. It may be a different language, but the most popular Spanish curse words also only require four letters. Saturday’s local derby had a soundtrack that would carry the “Explicit Content” sticker if it were a CD.

In truth, the animosity on display put El Clasico to shame. Whereas the battle between Barcelona and Real Madrid has turned into a global spectacle attracting fans of both clubs from all over the world and far more away supporters willing to yell and scream because their outrageously priced tickets give them that right, the Catalan derby seemingly had a far more traditional, hate-filled feel to it.
Espanyol hates FC Barcelona and everything it stands for.

For a half, the home side rode that fanfare and energy and tamed Barcelona’s famed Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar trio. In fact, Jose Manuel Jurado should have taken the lead for the home side, but he fluffed his chance wide after being put in on goal with a concerned Marc-Andre Ter Stegen looking beaten.

Five minutes into the second half, though, Suarez pounced on an awful back pass and made no mistake with his finish. Once again, Jurado had made an error, as the midfielder surely had trouble sleeping after the match. The Uruguayan proceeded to celebrate by sliding near the corner flag and pointing to the same fans that had been taunting him throughout the evening.

Predictably, those fans responded by pointing their own fingers back at the Uruguayan, but the supporters chose far more poignant fingers with which to point. From that point forward, the bulk of the insults for the remainder of the match would be directed at Suarez. He’s earned them, after all.

Once Messi made a run from the halfway line into Espanyol’s box before laying off a pass to Ivan Rakitic, who coolly slotted Barcelona’s second goal to the far post, the end result was far from in doubt. The crowd hurled insults at the Croatian, but that hardly mattered now. Suarez latching onto another Espanyol error to grab his second and Barcelona’s third only further killed the crowd’s influence and confirmed the inevitable.

Even the angriest of the mob began to think about its escape from the stadium. Those halftime bocadillos, sandwiches seemingly every La Liga supporter brings into the stadium for the intermission, did little to stop their stomachs from hurting. A segment of the crowd left early, including several of the tourists wearing the Messi shirts. Even they had seen enough.

With the 3-0 victory, Barcelona returned to the top of La Liga, level on points with Real Madrid, which beat Valencia 2-1 in a hard-fought contest earlier in the night. So the pressure was on Barcelona to step up and respond with three points. They did.

Real Madrid has four matches remaining in La Liga, with two Champions League semifinal fixtures against Atletico Madrid. The Madrid derby is an especially grueling event, so adding two games of that nature could easily complicate Madrid’s run-in. Add an extra match away to Europa League semifinalist Celta Vigo that still has not found a slot in the schedule, and Madrid is likely going to have to play two near-perfect matches per week for the next three weeks in order to win La Liga and also advance to the Champions League final in Cardiff on June 3.

Meanwhile, Barcelona now only has three league matches remaining: at home against Villarreal, away at Las Palmas and at home against Eibar. In addition, each of those matches takes place a week apart, so the squad should be healthy and able to secure all nine points. While a trip to Las Palmas could be a tricky fixture, the island club is safe from the relegation zone and got thrashed 5-0 at home by Atletico Madrid on Saturday.

In many ways, Espanyol facing Barcelona on a short week provided the perfect opportunity to ruin Barcelona’s season and end the La Liga title race. Seemingly, Saturday’s home crown, which could be heard leaving the stadium chanting about Juventus’ victory over Barcelona in the Champions League, would have loved nothing more. Ultimately, Barcelona won, and the title race goes on.

Shahan Ahmed is a soccer columnist for Yahoo! Sports. Follow Shahan on Twitter: @ShahanLA