El Superclásico

Lore & Background

The two clubs Boca and River Plate 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 the north of the city in 1925. Since then, Boca Juniors has been known as the club of Argentina's working class or the people's club, 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 a sea of colorful flowing banners, screams and roars, chanting, dancing and never-ending fireworks.

Boca fans refer to River supporters as 'gallinas' ('chickens'), and River fans refer to Boca rivals as 'los chanchitos' ('little pigs') or 'bosteros' ('manure collectors'). On June 23, 1968, in El Monumental, after a 0–0 match, 71 fans were killed in a crush at gate 12, with 150 fans left injured. After three years of investigation, a government inquiry found no one guilty.

Reader's Guide

The Superclásico is known worldwide as one of the fiercest and most important derbies. In April 2004, The Observer put the Superclásico at the top of their list of '50 sporting things you must do before you die'. In 2016, FourFourTwo considered it the 'biggest derby in the world'. That same year The Daily Telegraph ranked this match as the 'biggest club rivalry in world football', and the Daily Mirror placed it number one in the top 50 football derbies in the world, above El Clásico between Barcelona and Real Madrid, in 2017. The rivalry has intensified since the turn of the century, with events including River's relegation in 2011, a pepper spray attack in the 2015 Copa Libertadores, and the 2018 Copa Libertadores Finals bus attack that led to the game being moved to Madrid.