List of association football rivalries

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This article deals with major football (soccer) rivalries around the world. This includes local derbies as well as matches between teams further apart.


Ajax vs Feyenoord

The most important rivalry in the Netherlands is that between Ajax Amsterdam and Feyenoord Rotterdam, known as De Klassieker. Both have won the Dutch national championship numerous times and have dominated the Dutch league since the beginning of professional football in Holland in the 1950s. Ajax has always been the bigger of the two, and are perceived arrogant, while Feyenoord is the club supported by dockworkers from the Rotterdam port. They always feel that the media is more supportive of Ajax. Whether this is true or not depends on who you support. In recent years PSV Eindhoven has been more successful than Feyenoord, but still people in Holland feel that there is only one classic match in the Dutch league. As of 2005 154 official matches have been played since 1922, Ajax winning 63, Feyenoord winning 51 and 39 have ended in a draw. This excludes one edition which was cancelled due to fog.

América vs Guadalajara

A long standing rivalry between the teams of two of the most important cities in México: Chivas of Guadalajara and Club América of Mexico City.

Chivas is known for a long-standing tradition of fielding only Mexican-born players, contrasting with América, who typically hires famous foreigners. América is owned by Televisa, the main communications company in México, and thus have a huge fan base in the whole country although Guadalajara also have a very large supporter base nationwide (and is owned by Jorge Vergara, through his expansive pyramid scheme Omnilife). Both teams have been very successful, each having won 10 championships.

This match is sometimes seen as the match of the 'capitalinos', the inhabitants of Mexico City, versus the 'provincianos', the people from the rest of the country. As Mexico City holds some of the economical and political power, some of the resentment boils over. However, not all 'provincianos' share this view, particularly those living in the northern city of Monterrey who also have a share of economical power in the country, their own derby, and their own particular rivalry with Mexico City.

The matches tend to be very colorful, as both Estadio Azteca in México City and Estadio Jalisco in Guadalajara seat a very large crowd of enthusiastic and roaring fans. Followers of both teams can be found on almost any city in Mexico.

Club América - 69 Wins

Chivas - 59 Wins

Draws - 63

Barcelona vs Real Madrid

The match between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid in Spain is considered a very fierce rivalry. This is due to Barcelona being a symbol of Catalan culture against that of the Castillean Real Madrid. In fact, to many the teams represent the Franco regime (Real) and the opposition to it (Barça).

Being the two most important teams in Spain, and two of the most important in the world, but also because of the popularity of the players of both clubs, the game attracts the attention of the whole world. The derby is dubbed as "El clásico" by the Spanish press. Animosity between the two clubs rose further in 2000 when Barça star player Luís Figo joined their arch-rivals in a £37 million deal. He was showered with bottles, lighters and a pig's head.

Benfica vs FC Porto

This is the biggest clash in Portugal. FC Porto, the symbol of the northern city of Porto, against SL Benfica, the big club from Lisbon, capital of Portugal. Many see this as the new power (FC Porto) in Portuguese football versus the traditional strong force (Benfica).

The matches between this two sports clubs, even in other sports such as basketball or rink hockey, always attract similar attention across the whole country, showing all the rivalry that exists between North/South of Portugal (FC Porto/Benfica).

Boca Juniors vs River Plate

These two teams from Buenos Aires, Argentina are the protagonist of the so called El Superclásico of Argentine football (The Superderby. Spanish, clásico –meaning classic– is the word used meaning derby in Argentina). The rivalry between Boca Juniors and River Plate is intense, and the teams have sometimes taken to distribute posters to tease the other team after a defeat between them or even lost in any major competition, or to show off after winning the local league or an international championship.

This derby is considered to be one of the most exciting in the world. in 2004, British newspaper The Observer made a list of the 50 sporting things you must do before you die, with Watch Boca Juniors Play River Plate in Buenos Aires at the top of the list. Due to their huge fan bases (Boca has 40% of the Argentine population and River 33%) Encuesta Hinchas, and remarkable success, this rivalry is one of great magnitude. Known worldwide for the passion of the fans, the fields of both teams are loaded with passionate songs (often based on popular Argentine rock band tunes) against their rivals, fireworks, flags and paper. There are also infrequent riots between the hardest supporters of both sides.

The history of matches between them shows an advantage to Boca Juniors, that's why Boca fans call their River counterparts "hijos nuestros" ("our sons") in allusion to statistics favouring their team. This is the record of matches between Boca Juniors and River Plate as of March 27, 2006:

Championship Played Boca Ties River
Local League 178 66 53 59
International Competitions 25 10 9 6
Friendly Matches 90 37 27 27
Local Cups 2 0 1 1
Total 295 113 90 93
statistics at RSSSF

Celtic vs Rangers

One of the most heated football matches in the world is the Old Firm derby between Celtic and Rangers. Both clubs play in Glasgow, Scotland and the match is one of the oldest derbies in the world, dating back to 1888, when Celtic first beat Rangers 5-2. The Old Firm derby is also one of the most contested matches in the world, with over 400 games having been played.

The Old Firm match is one of the most fiercely battled in the world and the crowds are rarely disappointed. It splits Glasgow in two and the rivalry is so intense that fans are warned not to wear team colours around the city at any times (Celtic's colours being green and white, while Rangers' colours are blue and red).

The matches are played at either Celtic Park with 60,000 fans or Ibrox Park in front of 50,000. Before an Old Firm game, local news coverage is often of nothing other than the game.

Rangers are considered a Protestant club with unionist and royalist supporters, while Celtic is considered a Catholic club with republican supporters. It has long had connections with the political conflict in Northern Ireland, with thousands of fans from Northern Ireland making the trip to Scotland for these matches. Indeed, the conflict between the two clubs is so great that only three players have moved between clubs.

Rangers currently lead their bitter rivals in terms of trophies won (the most successful in fact in World Football with 107 won in all), although Celtic fans pride themselves on winning the European Cup while Rangers have not. Rangers also have an edge in the head to head history between the two clubs :-

Rangers F.C. - 242 Wins

Celtic F.C. - 190 Wins

Draws - 137

Fenerbahçe vs Galatasaray

Named as "Turkish Delight" in BBC's derby section, this is the clash of Turkey's two most successful teams. For some fans, winning the derby is more important than winning the league. Galatasaray won both the UEFA and Super Cup in 2000, and their fans tease Fenerbahçe fans because of their relative failure in European competitions. Conversely, Fenerbahçe fans mock their opponents due to recent derby results, such as the 2002/03 match in which Fenerbahçe won 6-0 at home. The fans of the two teams are traditionally split along class lines, with Fenerbahçe being the working class team and Galatasaray - who were founded by Galatasaray Lycee students - the more aristocratic. Fenerbahçe is a bit more successful than Galatasaray in the derby, which was first played in 1909. Even though there are ethnic, geographic or religious differences between sides in other derbies in the world, there's almost no difference between Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray fans; they are all Turks and most of them would react in the same way in another issue meaning that they don't like the other side because they are of Fenerbahçe or Galatasaray. Galatasaray have more cups and trophies than Fenerbahçe.

Flamengo vs Vasco

Main article: Clássico dos Milhões

The so-called "Clássico dos Milhões" (The Millions' Derby), named after the largest fanbases in Rio (and arguably across the country, if one discounts São Paulo state's sheer demographic weight), is considered by most the top Brazilian derby. It has been played since 1923 as Vasco da Gama rose to first division to clinch on the fly its first title, just to be denied an unbeaten row by Flamengo. This was celebrated by the latter as a title of its own and triggered from year 1 a nation-wide rivalry, at first on grounds of social and racial issues (Vasco was founded by Portuguese immigrants and was the first Brazilian club to include black players), and later on mass appeal as Flamengo grew progressively from its aristocratic origins to become the most popular Brazilian side. At state league level, both teams have been major winners: since 1923, Flamengo won 24 cups while Vasco won 22 (tied with Fluminense). From 1972 through 2001, in particular, at least one of both teams featured in every state league final phase, with 11 direct confrontations and 17 direct decisive qualifiers. At national league level, both teams cultivate similar unsurpassed figures, with 4 Brazilian titles since 1971, as a controversial 5th title to Flamengo in 1987 was denied by CBF. Fierce field rivalry also extended to international level where Flamengo boasts one Intercontinental Cup title whereas Vasco was once runner-up in 1998 and later on again in 2000 at the 1st World Club championship. Both teams won once the Libertadores Cup and Mercosul Cup. Runner-up statistics are also part of the rivalry as seen as shameful and hinting a lack of fighting spirit ("raça", i.e. literally race). Since 2002, both clubs seem to confirm their seemingly-atavic rivalry by simultaneously displaying poor performances and struggling to avoid relegation to Brazilian second division. They also compete at high level on other sports such as rowing (their original sport as both were founded "clube de regatas" - rowing regatte club - in 1895 and 1898 respectively, hence the coveted title of "earth and sea"), basketball, swimming, futsal or judo.

Internazionale vs Juventus

Main article: Derby d'Italia

The Derby d'Italia is a semi-annual football fixture in italian football between Internazionale and Juventus. It is unique in Italian Football due to the fact that the derby has been an ever present fixture in Serie A and is the only match which has been ever present in Serie A. It is considered the most important derby in Italian Football, although the Derby della Madonnina (Milan Derby) is sometimes seen as more prestigious, while the Rome derby is seen as the most hotly contested derby.

Liverpool vs Manchester United

The two most successful clubs in English football, Liverpool and Manchester United, have a long standing rivalry, so much so that no player has been transferred directly between the two since Phil Chisnall moved from United to Liverpool in 1964 (though some players have played for both clubs, having been elsewhere in between each tenure e.g. Paul Ince). The rivalry has its roots in inter-city animosity between Liverpool and Manchester and the historical success both teams have enjoyed throughout the decades. Both teams also have big city rivals in Everton and Manchester City respectively, but the inter-city contest arguably outranks both of these. Fierce to the end Man Utd and Liverpool respect but hate each other.

Peñarol vs Nacional

One of football's classic derbies, the Uruguayan Superclásico is the confrontation between the two greatest teams of Montevideo, Nacional and Peñarol. Both teams have played a big part in developing South American football and are respected in the Americas and worldwide dispite their recent lack of international success. Together they sum up 8 Copa Libertadores and 6 Intercontinental Cups

The rivalry is an important component of the country's culture, which is paralyzed every time the clubs face each other at the legendary Centenario Stadium in Montevideo, since the venue never changes no matter which one is the local team. Regarding football styles, both teams represent the classic Uruguayan combination of guts and skills.

Achievements

See also

References


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