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. Both sets of supporters sing passionate chants aimed at their rivals, often based on popular Argentine rock band tunes. Each stadium, Boca's La Bombonera and River's El Monumental are known to bounce with the simultaneous jumping of the fans. At times, the matches have been known to end in fights between the 'barra brava' (violent factions) of both sides or with the police. 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') because they claim their stadium smells most of the time, as well as 'bosteros' ('manure collectors'), a reference to the smell of a polluted river in La Boca. Another slur, coined in the late 1990s over remarks of Boca's forward Diego Latorre, is to brand Boca Juniors as 'The Cabaret', due to the alleged aspiration of some players to steal the limelight. 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. The disaster was the worst incident in the history of Argentine football. There are various claims as to what exactly happened that day. After three years of investigation, a government inquiry found no one guilty. Since the tragedy, the gates at El Monumental have been identified by letters instead of numbers. At the end of the 1968 season, the 68 football clubs in the Argentine Football Association co

In Their Own Story

The air inside Camp Nou is thick with anticipation, a palpable electricity that hums through the stands long before kickoff. The floodlights cut through the Barcelona night, illuminating the iconic blue and red stripes of the home kit against the pristine white of the visitors. As the captains shake hands, the silence of 90,000 fans is broken by a roar that shakes the very foundations of the stadium. It is not just about the ball; it is a moment where decades of history converge in ninety minutes of pure, unadulterated drama.

Reader's Guide

The Superclásico is known worldwide as one of the fiercest and most important derbies. In April 2004, the English newspaper The Observer put the Superclásico at the top of their list of '50 sporting things you must do before you die', saying that 'Derby day in Buenos Aires makes the Old Firm game look like a primary school kick-about', and in 2016 the British football magazine 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.

Did You Know?

• The term 'Clásico' originated in Argentina, particularly with this match up, and was later exported to other countries such as Spain and Mexico.
• The first official Superclásico was played on August 24, 1913 at Racing Club Stadium, with River winning 2–1.
• On June 23, 1968, 71 fans were killed in a crush at gate 12 of El Monumental, the worst incident in Argentine football history.
• Boca fans are known as 'Xeneizes' ('Genoese'), while River fans are called 'Los Millonarios' (The Millionaires).