What is the tradition of Real Madrid and Barcelona lining up for their opponents? Who broke the tradition by not lining up for the other team first?

First of all, this tradition does not specifically refer to Barcelona and Real Madrid, but is a tradition in La Liga. Specifically, when a team in La Liga wins the championship (including La Liga and various continental cups), the opponents are supposed to line up for the winning team when they enter the next round of matches. This tradition is not mandatory, which means that La Liga officials will not penalize any team that does not comply.

The reason why La Liga's tradition of lining up the champions is particularly noteworthy for Barcelona and Real Madrid is probably because of the centuries-long entanglement between the La Liga duo.

Only La Liga maintains this tradition, but it could be broken by Real Madrid if Barcelona wins the title early, and we'll take a look at why.

Once in 07 La Liga, Real Madrid won the league title early, and Barcelona lined up to welcome Real Madrid before the start of the game, which is also a tradition in La Liga.

And at the beginning of this season, Real Madrid won the Club World Cup, and Barcelona did not choose to line up to welcome Real Madrid, the La Liga will soon be close to the end of the game, Barcelona is likely to win the league title before the national derby.

But Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane said,

I don't know how many times you're going to ask me, but my answer is clear, we're not going to line up for them, it's my decision and that's it. I don't understand the parade and it's not going to happen. It was Barca who broke the tradition first. But in '11 Barca won the title and Real Madrid didn't line up for Barca.

The comment sent waves through many fans who said they didn't understand because Real Madrid's failure to line up for Barcelona was purely out of nowhere - after all, the tradition of lining up is only a way for La Liga champions to do so, not something that Club World Cup and other champions get to enjoy.

But Barcelona boss Valverde said that Barcelona will not think about that now that they have not won the title, and that Real Madrid are likely to break the tradition if Barcelona win the title before the national derby.