Originally it referred only to those fixtures held in the Spanish championship, but nowadays the term has been generalized, and tends to include every single match between the two clubs, such as in tournaments like the UEFA Champions League, Copa del Rey and Supercopa de España.

[1] After facing off a second time in the 2016 UEFA Champions League final in Milan, with Real Madrid winning as they had two years earlier, they also met in the 2018 UEFA Super Cup, again the first time two clubs from the same city met in that event; it was won by Atlético.

"[3] Thus, Atlético fans regularly chanted that Real were "El equipo del gobierno, la vergüenza del país" – "The team of the government, the shame of the country" – and allegedly adopted a more left-wing slant (tempered by the rise of ultras culture, and Rayo Vallecano's presence as the "true" leftist club in Madrid).

Atlético, however, gained some revenge when, led by former Real Madrid coach José Villalonga, it defeated its city rivals in two successive Copa del Generalísimo finals in 1960 and 1961.

[7] It is worth noting that by then, Real Madrid was not very keen on signing non-Caucasian players (president Santiago Bernabéu even stated, when he decided not to sign Portuguese star Eusebio at the end of the 1960s, "Mientras yo viva, aquí no jugará ningún negro ni un blanco con bigote" ("As long as I live, no black or white with a mustache will play here").

The Santiago Bernabéu, Real Madrid's stadium named after its former president, is alongside banks and businesses on the upper class Paseo de la Castellana street, while the Vicente Calderón (the stadium that Atlético Madrid used until the 2016–17 season) could be found near a brewery, alongside the Manzanares River and a motorway.

Between 1961 and 1989, when Real dominated La Liga, only Atlético offered it any serious challenge, winning league titles in 1966, 1970, 1973 and 1977.

In 1985, they met in the two-legged final of the Copa de la Liga with each winning their home leg, although Real Madrid prevailed on aggregate.

They would once again meet in the one-legged final of the Spanish Super Cup in the 2019–20 season, with Real Madrid prevailing 4–1 on penalties following a 0–0 draw after extra time at the King Abdullah Sports City stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The tie finished 2–2 on aggregate, and Real Madrid won the play-off game held in Zaragoza.

Atlético were beaten 3–0 in the first leg at the Santiago Bernabéu with all three goals scored by Cristiano Ronaldo.