Athletic Bilbao are a special football club. First and foremost is their cantera policy of only selecting players with Basque roots and then there's the fans. There are passionate fans all over the world but there's something unique about the Bilbao faithful.
The club has become a symbol of Basque pride and in that sense, a win for Bilbao can be taken as more than just a sporting triumph. A Bilbao win over Real Madrid is more than just one football club defeating another and that's evident in how the fans celebrate such occasions.
Take for example the 5-1 Super Cup win over Barcelona this week. Spain's version of the Community Shield is hardly the Champions League but just look how many people filled the streets of Bilbao to celebrate their first silverware in over 30 years. Simply incredible stuff.
