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SOCCER

FC Barcelona’s billboard in Madrid implies Real Madrid legend Raúl is a fan of the club, but is he?

With a not so subtle jab at Real Madrid’s former icon, the Blaugrana have either played a stroke of genius or opened a large can of worms.

FC Barcelona’s billboard in Madrid implies Real Madrid legend Raúl is a fan of the club, but is he?
Marta PérezDiarioAS

As arguably the greatest rivalry in the world of football, the two giants of La Liga never miss an opportunity to take a jab at each other, but this time around we’d say it’s Barca for the win.

FC Barcelona’s opens new store in Madrid with cheeky campaign

Football fans in Madrid were ‘treated’ to a surprise on Thursday morning, with a massive advertising hoarding seen at Calle Atocha 75. An advertising campaign from FC Barcelona to announce the opening of their new store, the sign reads ‘Raúl es culer’ which is more than tongue in cheek as the pun clearly implicates Real Madrid legend, Raúl González Blanco, known the world over as Raúl. The store, which we imagine has been strategically placed in the heart of the Spanish capital in C/Arenal 9, opened at midday on Thursday.

Is Raúl really Culer?

To be clear, no, the former Real Madrid star is not a FCB fan - not that we know of anyway - and as such doesn’t need to worry about being disowned by an entire city. So, who is the Raúl in question? As it turns the man in question is actually Raúl Martin, a FC Barcelona fan who lives in Madrid and has actually been used in the advertising campaign to promote the store’s opening. You can all breathe easier now Madrid fans, everything’s going to be OK.

FCB have done this before

Funnily enough, this isn’t the first time that FC Barcelona have dished it out to their eternal rivals via a massive sign on the side of a building. Indeed, it would appear that club President Joan Laporta is quite fond of the tactic. Fans will remember that Laporta famously placed a large banner with his face on it on the same street as the Santiago Bernabeu, with a caption that read ‘Looking forward to seeing you again,’ during his re-election campaign. It was a move that was seen as genius where marketing is concerned. There was also a giant billboard used in New York’s Times Square to promote the release of the club’s first NFT.