Football rivalries in Argentina

The superderby (superclásico) is the most important football rivalry in Argentina, and the most important local derby. It is contested between Buenos Aires rivals Boca Juniors and River Plate. It name in Spanish derives from the usage of clásico to mean derby and the prefix súper to denote its importance, because Boca Juniors and River Plate are the two most popular and successful teams in Argentine football, commanding more than 70% of all Argentine football fans between them.[1]

Rivalry began due to the location of both clubs in the same neighborhood (La Boca, where were founded River Plate in 1901 and Boca Juniors in 1905) in the early 20th century (except for 1914 and 1915, when Boca Juniors moved its field to Wilde, a city of the Greater Buenos Aires, and then returned to its neighborhood), before River Plate left definitively the southern neighborhood in 1923 to move to the north of the city. The superderby is known worldwide as one of world football's fiercest and most important derbies.[2] It isn't particularly noted for the passion of the fans compared to the other important Argentine derbies due to their habituation to won trophies, but is the most followed in the country, and sometimes riots occurred.[3] The English newspaper The Observer put the superderby at the top of their list of 50 sporting things you must do before you die.[4]

The Avellaneda derby (clásico de Avellaneda), contested between Independiente and Racing, is the second most important rivalry in Argentine football. Both teams are from the city of Avellaneda (that is located into the Greater Buenos Aires) but have many fans throughout the country, being the third (Independiente) and fourth (Racing) most popular clubs in Argentina, accounting for more than 9% of the nation's population.[5][6][7] They are also the third and fourth most successful Argentine teams respectively in terms of total number of honours won.

Rivalry started in the first decade of the 20th century, when Independiente, that was founded in 1904 (but officially in 1905) in the neighboring city of Buenos Aires, moved to Avellaneda (named Barracas al Sud until 1904) in 1907, the same year of the first match against Racing (founded in Avellaneda in 1903), played on June 9 for the 3rd division and ended 3-2 in favor of Independiente. Since 1928 both stadiums are just 200 meters apart (Independiente's previous fields in Avellaneda were in other locations of the city). This derby is one of the most intense and colorful of the world, and didn't had a clear dominator until 1970s, when Independiente began to gain an advantage that is currently very large.

The Rosario derby (clásico rosarino) is the most important derby between clubs that are not based in the autonomous city or the province of Buenos Aires. It is contested between Newell's Old Boys and Rosario Central, the two major teams in the city of Rosario. The teams nicknames relate from the same incident where Rosario Central refused to play a charity game for a Leper colony, hence their nickname Canallas (Scoundrels). Newell's Old Boys stepped in to play the game and earned the nickname Los Leprosos (The Lepers).

This derby, that doesn't have a name of its own (although sometimes is denominated as "neighborhood's derby" or "porteño derby", this denominations never became popular), is contested between Huracán and San Lorenzo de Almagro, both clubs from Buenos Aires (being the second most important derby of the city). While San Lorenzo de Almagro is the fifth most popular and successful team in Argentine football (and part of the big five), with fans all over the country, Huracán was considered a big team in the amateur era (professional era started in 1931) and since then is considered like a "mid-sized" team, occupying the 10th place in number of honours won (also remaining most part of its history in 1st division) and having the majority of its fans in Buenos Aires and some cities of the Greater Buenos Aires (mainly Valentín Alsina, Lanús, Piñeiro and Gerli) that are near the south of Argentine capital.

Rivalry began due to the proximity of both clubs, that since early 20th century to 1979 had their different fields in boundary neighborhoods of the south of Buenos Aires. San Lorenzo de Almagro was founded on April 1, 1908 in Almagro neighborhood, but quickly moved to another location (also in Almagro) that later became a part of Boedo (recognized as an official neighborhood of Buenos Aires in 1972, but the area was informally denominated with this name since late 19th century). Huracán was founded on November 1, 1908 in Nueva Pompeya, and later moved to Parque Patricios, both neighborhoods that borders Boedo (and each other). From 1916 (year of inauguration of San Lorenzo de Almagro's old stadium, the Gasómetro) to 1923, stadiums of both clubs were only 500 meters apart, then Huracán (that had its stadium in this place since 1914) built a new stadium in another location of the same neighborhood due to the expropriation of its ground by the government for open a street. In 1979, Argentine dictatorial government expropriated the ground where San Lorenzo de Almagro had its stadium (which was then demolished) and later sold it to a private company that opened a hypermarket (that was closed in 2019 due to the negotiations of the team for recover this ground). The club maintained its headquarters (that were next to the stadium) in the same place, where also are installations for another sports practiced by the club (basketball, volleyball, etc.). During the 1980s and early 1990s, San Lorenzo de Almagro played its home matches in several stadiums of Buenos Aires (including Huracán's stadium) and the Greater Buenos Aires until began to build a new stadium (Pedro Bidegain stadium, known as Nuevo Gasómetro) in the 1990s, that was inaugurated on December 16, 1993, in Flores neighborhood (also in the south of Buenos Aires, 3 kilometers away from the old stadium). The derby has been dominated historically by San Lorenzo de Almagro.[8]

The Western derby (clásico del oeste) is contested between the two major teams in the west of the city of Buenos Aires, Ferro Carril Oeste and Vélez Sársfield. The first game was played in the amateur era in 1920 but this derby has not been played in official competition since Ferro's relegation from the Primera División in 2000. From the beginning of the professional era the difference between wins of Ferro Carril Oeste and Vélez Sarsfield has been 9 wins for the latter. This is one of the oldest derbies and rivalry began 11 years before the start of the professional AFA football league.[9]

The La Plata derby (clásico platense) is contested between the two major clubs in the city of La Plata, Estudiantes de La Plata and Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata.[10] The derby is fiercely contested, and the rivalry between the fans is so extreme that Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata fans have been accused of making death threats to their own team to lose on purpose to Boca Juniors during the 2006 Apertura; by strengthening Boca Juniors' lead at the top of the table, it would have damage Estudiantes' chances of winning the championship.[11]

The Córdoba derby (clásico cordobés) is a closely contested derby between the two most popular teams of Córdoba, Belgrano and Talleres.[12][13] The teams nicknames are "Matadores" for Talleres and "Piratas" for Belgrano.

The Santa Fe derby (clásico santafesino) is contested between the two major teams in the city of Santa Fe, Colón and Unión. The derby had been played in official competition since 1913. Colón play their home games at the Estadio Brigadier López, while Unión play their home games at Estadio 15 de Abril. The teams nicknames are Sabaleros for Colón and Tatengues for Unión.

The Tucumán derby (clásico tucumano): is contested between the two major teams in the province of Tucumán, and it is played in San Miguel de Tucumán, San Martín de Tucumán vs. Club Atlético Tucumán, it is the most important match in northern Argentina.