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So I got this idea for my next blog post when a buddy asked me about that wild Copa del Rey final where Alavés almost beat Barça back in the day. Figured I should map out their whole rivalry timeline properly.
Starting the research scramble
First thing? Hit my bookshelf for that old La Liga almanac collecting dust. Found some barebones stats but nothing juicy. Then spent ages scrolling through Spanish football forums – total time suck with all those pop-up ads. Almost rage-quit when a 10-year-old blog post claimed Barcelona played Alavés in the 1920s with no proof.
Finally struck gold on this digital newspaper archive. Had to google-translate like crazy cause my Spanish is restaurant-menu level. Found a 2003 match report where Rivaldo got pelted with oranges by Alavés fans – now that’s the weird history I wanted!
Untangling the messy bits
Kept running into three main headaches:
- Nobody agreed when their first meeting was (1921 or 1930?)
- That 1998 Copa game where Barcelona fielded their B-team got mixed up with the 2001 UEFA Cup semi in every article
- Twitter threads about Messi’s hat-tricks had better documentation than actual historical records
Nearly lost my mind cross-checking attendance numbers. One source said 15,000 at Mendizorroza in 1996, another insisted it was 9,500. Had to dig up black-and-white stadium photos to settle it.
Piecing it together
Organized everything on sticky notes all over my desk – looked like a detective’s conspiracy board. Sorted events into three piles:
- Early days: Basque boys causing upsets against Catalans
- Modern drama: That mental UEFA semi-final with like 9 goals
- Recent years: Alavés beating Messi’s Barça then immediately getting relegated
Almost scrapped the whole project when my cat jumped on the desk and sent sticky notes flying. Took two hours to reassemble the 2017 comeback game timeline.
Ended up writing it chronologically but kept the language super simple. Instead of “the Blanquivioletas secured promotion” I wrote “Alavés fought their way back to the big league”. Threw in fan stories from forums too – like that guy who missed his sister’s wedding because of the 2001 UEFA match and still has family beef.
Posted it this morning with that vintage photo of fans throwing oranges. Already got three comments from angry Alavés supporters correcting minor details. Mission accomplished.