Superclásico

Lore & Background

The term 'Clásico' originated in Argentina, particularly with this match up and was later exported to other countries such as Spain and Mexico. The two clubs both have origins in La Boca, the working class dockland area of Buenos Aires, with River being founded in 1901 and Boca in 1905. River moved to the affluent district of Núñez in 1925. Since then, Boca Juniors has been known as the club of Argentina's working class, with many Boca fans coming from the local Italian immigrant community.

Boca fans are known as 'Xeneizes' ('Genoese'). River Plate became known by the nickname Los Millonarios (The Millionaires), with a supposedly upper-class support base. Both clubs have supporters from all social classes. The first official match of the rivalry was played on August 24, 1913 at Racing Club Stadium, with River winning 2–1.

The Superclásico is particularly noted for the passion of the fans, with what the BBC describe as 'a sea of colourful flowing banners, screams and roars, chanting, dancing and never-ending fireworks'. At times, the matches have been known to end in fights between the 'barra brava' (violent factions) of both sides or with the police. On June 23, 1968, in El Monumental, after a 0–0 match between the two teams, 71 fans were killed in a crush at gate 12, with 150 fans left injured.

Since the turn of the century, the rivalry has intensified. Boca eliminated River in the 2000 Copa Libertadores and 2004 Copa Libertadores. In June 2011, River was relegated for the first time in its history. Since its promotion in 2012, River eliminated Boca in the 2014 Copa Sudamericana, 2015 Copa Libertadores, 2017 Supercopa Argentina, 2018 Copa Libertadores, and the 2019 Copa Libertadores.

Reader's Guide

The Superclásico is played between River Plate and Boca Juniors. Each stadium, Boca's La Bombonera and River's El Monumental, are known to bounce with the simultaneous jumping of the fans. Boca fans refer to River supporters as 'gallinas' ('chickens') claiming the lack of guts of River players. River fans refer to their Boca rivals as 'los chanchitos' ('little pigs') and 'bosteros' ('manure collectors'). Another slur is to brand Boca Juniors as 'The Cabaret'. The rivalry can affect players transferred between the clubs; Cataldo Spitale was the first to make the change in 1933. Some players have stated they would not play for the other club, such as River's Uruguayan player Enzo Francescoli, while Diego Maradona refused to even consider a move to El Monumental, stating his dream was to play for Boca.

Did You Know?

• The Superclásico was put at the top of The Observer's list of '50 sporting things you must do before you die' in April 2004.
• In 2016, FourFourTwo considered it the 'biggest derby in the world'.
• The Daily Telegraph ranked this match as the 'biggest club rivalry in world football' in 2016.
• The Daily Mirror placed it number one in the top 50 football derbies in the world in 2017.