When Real Madrid and Atletico played in the same stadium

Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid are gearing up to play another derby at the Wanda Metropolitan Stadium on Saturday, which two years ago became the Rojiblancos' sixth home and the sixth ground where the clash has taken place.

In the past, the Madrid derby has taken place in the Retiro Park/ Del Tiro de Pichon (1903-1913), the O'Donnell Park (1913-1923), the Estadio Metropolitano (1923-1966), Estadio Vallecas (1940-1943) and more recently, the Estado Vicente Calderon (1966-2016).

The stadiums of the respective clubs and indeed, the neighbourhood in which they are situated, have played a key role in defining their identities, but at various points throughout the history of both Atletico and Real Madrid, the idea of ground sharing has cropped up.

The move never quite came to fruition but, at one time, it was not such a strange prospect.

In the early days of the Spanish football league, both clubs played where they could, normally on the outskirts of the city. In the early 20th century, Real Madrid's home was on the east side, near the Retiro Park.

It was certainly nothing fancy and the players themselves were responsible for the ground's upkeep. Naturally, this was where the first Madrid derby took place, with Atletico making it their own home when Los Blancos moved to another pitch next to Goya Street in 1903.

This made the clubs close neighbours for some years in the Salamanca neighbourhood and, in 1912, Real moved into the O'Donnell Stadium near the Goya Bullring (land which is now taken up by the WiZink Centre), and just a few hundred metres away Atletico established the O'Donnell field, which included benches and fences.

In 1923, Real Madrid moved to Ciudad Lineal Velodrome, and by 1924 Los Blancos were already established in the Chamartin area of the city.

In the same year, Atletico settled in the Cuatro Caminos neighbourhood in the Estadio Metropolitano which at the time belonged to the Madrid Metro Company, hence the name, which had a very modern design for its era.

In 1936 the Spanish Civil War began. In November of that year the coup's forces entered the city, and the University City, which was next to Atletico's stadium became the scene of violent combat. By the time fighting stopped in 1939, it was practically destroyed.

Chamartin on the other hand emerged more or less unscathed and in the 1939-1940 season Atletico and Real Madrid shared the same stadium, and it lasted almost the entire post war campaign, before the Colchoneros moved to Vallecas, where they remained until the Estadio Metropolitano reopened in 1943.

The Estadio Metropolitano also played host to Madrid for parts of the 1946/1947 and 1947/1948 seasons, due to renovations being undertaken in the Chamartin area.

A period which Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu did not remember too fondly, describing the rental conditions stipulated by the Rojiblancos as unreasonable.

But soon it would be Atletico's turn to stay in what was already the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu.

On April 24,1963, Atletico played the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup Winner's Cup against German side Nurnberg in Madrid's ground, with their own already becoming too outdated to host such occasions.

The event went so well that the Colchoneros played in the Bernabeu once again on January 1, 1964 in the Fairs' Cup against Juventus.

This time things were different, with Atletico suffering a 3-1 defeat to the Italian giants, whilst Madrid's fans cheered their opposition on.

The match proved so controversial, that the prospect of ground sharing in the future diminished substantially, and was pivotal in Atletico's decision to move from the Metropolitano to Estadio Manzanares.

Bernabeu however, faced with the prospect of an Atletico side looking to groundshare as their new stadium was being prepared, presented the Rojiblancos with similarly exorbitant rental conditions, as his side was years earlier.

This meant that Atletico would not make a return to Madrid's stadium but luckily, according to urban legend, Francoist Lieutenant General Fuertes de Villavencio allowed the side to move directly into their new home, overruling the city council, sparing the red and white half of Madrid's blushes.

In the 1990s, despite images that seemingly show otherwise, relations between the capital's two clubs were cordial.

The last time the two shared a stadium was in the 1996/1997 season, when Atletico played at the Bernabeu after replanting their ground's turf.

Los Blancos also played a Copa del Rey game at the Manzanares in 1994, after being ordered to play their tie against Rayo Vallecano behind closed doors following fan violence in the earlier rounds against Canarian outfit Tenerife.

This was the culmination of the work that was done to appease the Rojiblanco ultras by former Atletico president Jesus Gil.

Interestingly; the match saw Vicente Del Bosque, the man who would go on to become a legendary figure in Spanish football, make his debut as coach of Los Blancos.