“Judas” Figo and the flying pig head

21 years have passed, but the shocking "pig's head" incident in the 2002 Super Classic match still makes everyone remember. And whether we like it or not, Luis Figo will always be mentioned as the main character of that event.

In the summer of 2000, Real Madrid created the loudest and most memorable transfer in football history. Spending 60 million euros, the Royal Spanish team created a world transfer record when successfully recruiting Luis Figo from great rival Barcelona. It was not an ordinary sale, because in fact Figo and Real's representative "went out" together, successfully bypassing Barca's leadership.

Barcelona fans called Luis Figo a "traitor" after he left for Real Madrid in the summer of 2000

However, it was not until November 23, 2002 that Luis Figo - Golden Ball 2000 and FIFA Player of the Year 2001, had the opportunity to return to his old home at Nou Camp with Real Madrid. The passage of time did not lessen the hatred of the cules, but it only fueled the resentment of the Catalan people. That day, Figo not only faced his former teammates, but moreover, he alone had to fight against 120,000 spectators on all four sides of the Nou Camp stands.

 

El Clasico match in 2002 was postponed for a long time

Under suffocating pressure from the cules, Figo played one of the worst matches of his career. "The atmosphere killed us," admitted President Florentino Perez, who orchestrated Figo's transfer from Barcelona to Madrid.

In the first reunion after that historic "betrayal", the yard cleaning staff collected a few oranges, a few sandwiches, a few cold food tins, bottles, lighters and even were cell phones, back in the days when cell phones were still very expensive.

But worst of all - it was the burnt pig's head - a word known to the Spanish as “cochinillo”. Someone secretly hid the pig's head, waited until Figo was as close as possible, then threw it down. After more than 2 decades, Barcelona as well as investigators have not found the culprit of that pig's head throwing incident.

 

The pig's head was thrown down when Figo took a corner kick

However, it left a seemingly never-ending obsession with Figo, with the football world about the tense rivalry of the Super Classic matches between Barcelona and Real Madrid.

After the match, Gabriel Masfurrol, a member of Barcelona's board of directors that day, accused Madrid media of staging the incident. He hinted that a certain reporter had a pig's head in his camera bag, waiting for the right opportunity to throw it out to increase the drama. Meanwhile, the pro-Real media continuously attacked Barca and said that Catalans should feel ashamed of that disgraceful act.

Much later, Michel Salgado - who played on the same wing as Luis Figo that day, recalled: "When Real received a corner kick, I often approached the free kick spot so that Figo could make a quick combination. But that day I didn't dare go near that place. Strange objects fell from above like rain. I took a quick look and saw coins, a knife, a whiskey glass, Johnnie Walker or J&B, I don't know. But just looking at it is scary enough."

Luis Figo was once the symbol of FC Barcelona. He won the Golden Ball in November 2000 after top performances in the Catalan shirt. His move to play for the "eternal enemy" made cules feel disappointed and hurt until later.