100 years since a memorable match

The poster couldn't be more appealing to fans, as the Uruguayan outfit provided a large part of the national side that had won the gold medal at the Paris 1924 Olympic Games in such fine fashion. Nacional players Andrés Mazali, Pedro Arispe, José Leandro Andrade, Santos Urdinarán, Héctor Scarone, Pedro Petrone and Ángel Romano were in the eleven that defeated Italy by a resounding 3-0 in the final. Known as the "Gardel of football", forward Héctor Scarone stands out as he was considered the best footballer in the world at the time. Uruguayan football was known as the finest during that period, subsequently confirmed by wins at the Amsterdam 1928 Olympic Games and the first World Cup in 1930 played in Uruguay.

The Barça team of those golden years

Set to face Nacional and its players of such repute, FC Barcelona were in the right form to put up suitable resistance. Coached by Englishman Ralph Kirby, the team were happily going through a golden age that began in the 1920s, including players of the stature of Hungarian keeper Férenc Plattkó, defenders Josep Planas and Emil Walter (German), midfielders Andreu Bosch, Agustí Sancho and Domènec Carulla, and forwards Vicenç Piera, Emili Sagi and Pepe Samitier. The latter, the charismatic and unforgettable Sami, was the true idol of all culers, and was colloquially known as the 'grasshopper man' for his incredible leaps. That legendary Barça side had won the Catalonian Championship after being neck and neck with Espanyol, and were through to the national championship semi-finals against Atlético Madrid, which they would go on to win before defeating Arenas de Getxo in the final to be proclaimed Spanish champions.

As such, a show at the imposing cathedral of football of the Les Corts stadium between the Catalans and Uruguayans was guaranteed. Furthermore, and just to give the event even more importance, the so-called 'Alfa Romeo Cup' was at stake, provided by the famous Italian car maker for the occasion.

A historic match

That 12 April 1925 saw the blaugrana stadium filled to the rafters, with 22000 spectators precariously perched on the stands. In fact and in light of the potential risk, some fans ended up having to come down and stand around the pitch itself. French referee Mr Girandin was in charge and the teams that took the field that day were:

FC Barcelona: Férenc Plattkó, Josep Planas (Leandre Solà), Emil Walter, Andreu Bosch (Baldiri Elias), Agustí Sancho, Domènec Carulla, Cristòfol Martí, Vicenç Piera, Josep Samitier, Patrici Arnau and Emili Sagi.

Club Nacional de Football: Andrés Mazali, Roberto Fiorentino, Pedro Arispe, Diego Carreras, Alfredo Zibecchi, José Leandro Andrade, Santos Urdinarán, Héctor Scarone, Pedro Petrone, Héctor Castro and Ángel Romano.

The game fulfilled expectations and ended up being a fine and well-disputed contest. The Uruguayans' better technique may have been evident, but they were handicapped by how hard the surface was, which had no grass yet (not until the following year). Barça played admirably, as was reflected in local newspaper El Mundo Deportivo, who reported "Safe in defence, solid in midfield, and bright, hardworking and effective in attack, the Barcelona team played superbly on Sunday, in a way that their own and most enthusiastic followers hardly knew”. That team had definitely outdone itself, and just a week earlier at the same ground, Barça had overwhelmed Stadium de Zaragoza 8-0 in a Spanish Championship match. Sports magazine Stadium were even more enthusiastic, reporting that the game was "the best played at home for many years, and we could still almost say it is the best match ever played in Barcelona".

Ends in a draw

FC Barcelona went ahead twice through goals by Josep Samitier (42nd and 53rd minute), but Nacional tied the match through Santos Urdinarián (48') and Héctor Scarone (67'). The match ended in a 2-2 draw and no winner was declared given that both had forced the same number of corners, which was how the winners of drawn games were decided at the time. Penalties were yet to be used to decide drawn matches. As such, the director of Alfa Romeo in Spain, Rafael Andrés González, kept the trophy for himself, which is now stored by one of his grandsons at home in Madrid.

One interesting fact about the match – part of a six-month long tour by the Uruguayan side taking in nine countries – was that Nacional had planned another friendly against Barça towards the end of June or in July that year (maybe to decide the winner of the Alfa Romeo Cup once and for all?), but it unfortunately had to be cancelled due to the Club being closed for six months, a punishment from the government for whistles when the Spanish national anthem was played at Les Corts on 14 June 1925.

The epilogue

Ultimately, the natural end to that historic match would come three years later, when both teams met again for a friendly, this time in Montevideo, when FC Barcelona toured South America after the 1927/28 season. That game played on 1 September 1928 at the Gran Parque Central stadium in the Uruguayan capital was known for the legendary tango singer Carlos Gardel being in the stands, a great friend of both blaugrana Josep Samitier and Uruguyan Héctor Scarone, who played for their respective teams in a match that saw Nacional run out 3-0 winners.

A historic bond

FC Barcelona and Club Nacional de Football were both founded in the same year, but they have also been world club champions three times, and had players that featured for both sides, such as Héctor Scarone himself (who spent a brief period at Barça in 1926), Fausto dos Santos, Enrique Fernández (1935-1936), Alcides Silveira (1962-1963), Luis Alberto Cubilla (1962-1964), Alfredo Amarillo (1976-1978), plus the great Luis Suárez (2014-2020), who came up through the youth ranks at Nacional. Enrique Fernández was also coach and league champion with both clubs, winning with Nacional in 1946 and 1950, and with Barça in the 1947/48 and 1948/49 seasons.