With the 271st derby (I added 9 since this Gazzetta article) between Milan AC and Inter Milan coming up next Sunday, I thought I would give you my recipe for what makes incredible derbies (I also include classics here which differ in that derbies concern 2 clubs in the same city or at least in the same region):
- Start by adding at least 70 years or more of statistics to show for
- Stir with the football passion that only some cities can bring
- Spice up with political differences
- Cook with the memories of some legendary matches and stars
- Serve hot with the inimitable parfum that makes these derbies and classics passionately debated from one generation to the next
The top 6 derby matches/classics in my opinion are:
- Boca Juniors – River Plate (I’m for Boca)
- Milan – Inter (I root for Milan)
- Barça – Real Madrid (go Barça)
- Rangers – Celtic (neutral here)
- Flamengo – Fluminense (Fla!)
- Penarol Montevideo – Nacional Montevideo (dale Penarol!!!!)
The Observer even listed attending the Boca – River superclasico as number 1 of the 50 sport events you must do before dying!
Let’s see for example if Boca-River follows my recipe:
- Start by adding at least 70 years or more of statistics to show for : sure does, the first game was in 1931…
- Stir with the football passion that only some cities worldwide can bring : Buenos Aires is the city with the highest concentration of professional teams and stadiums over 40,000…
- Spice up with political differences : Boca is the blue-collar team and River the white one…
- Cook with the memories of some legendary matches and stars : When Maradona was only 15 he said he would never play for River, he scored 5 goals in 7 Boca -River games and he played his last game against them…
- Serve hot with the inimitable parfum that makes these derbies and classics told from one generation to the next: More than words, just look at the video of this Boca – River clasico in Boca’s famous Bombonera!
Maracanazos go crazy for derbies!
u should read about the most important hungarian derby between Ferencváros and Újpest!
in the communism, Ferencváros was the only team which hasn’t been fully controlled by the communist regime. other teams from Budapest were. Újpest (older name Dózsa) was the team of the police department, Honvéd was the army’s team. because of the ferencváros fans rebellious attitude they were against the system and the police, so they never liked each other.
the other thing is, the distance between the two teams’ stadium isn’t to big, only 5-6 stations with the metroline.
check out some infos, or ask your nephew-in-law (me).
good post BTW.
best regards, Dave
(take a look on my blog, its in hungarian and i write about the culture of comic books, cartoon, video games and tv series. )
adultainment.blog.hu
David, thanks for your post. Thanks for the info! I’ll soon do a post on Hungarian football so I’ll get back to you. I checked out your blog, nice work, how long have you been posting?
Roy (the Underdog)
i think i started blogging 3 years ago:)
What a great blog! I’ve gone through all the articles and was fascinated by your extensive knowledge of football history and practise. I’m definitely going to stay connected. The subjects you’ve addressed so far are thrilling and of course, there are many more which you’ll undoubtedly deal with in the future. I also hope that “some guys up there as authorities” read it and act upon it if not be inspired by your sharp insights. Good luck.
Thanks for the thumbs up!!
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