Madrid v Barcelona: the cultural battle that the Catalans are losing

There's a new confidence in the Spanish capital – even if the football isn't going so well

Lionel Messi's goals gave Barcelona the advantage in its footballing clash with Real Madrid. Photograph: Alex Livesey/Getty Images
The white-shirted Real Madrid fan was clear that the enemy was greater than just the 11 players wearing the claret and blue shirts of Barcelona. "Death to Catalans," she shouted, still fuming over a 2-0 defeat on the sacred turf of Madrid's Santiago Bernabéu stadium. "Fuck Barça, fuck Catalonia!" added her boyfriend for good measure. The insults were uttered in the torrid aftermath of defeat last week, but they were also proof that some Spaniards see a lot more at stake than mere football glory in the epic series of matches being played by the two clubs, who finish a run of four encounters in 18 days with the second leg of their Champions League semifinal at the Camp Nou, Barcelona, on Tuesday night. For them this is war, a set of proxy battles between the Catalonia region – of which Barcelona is the capital – and mighty Madrid. With a draw and a victory apiece so far, the bruising campaign will not be settled until Tuesday. Real Madrid, the most successful club in Spanish history, know that football alone could not explain the heat generated by these encounters. Last week club officials claimed the use of Catalan to address Barça fans over the Bernabéu's PA system at the end of the