Boca Juniors vs River Plate: Why fans make it the world's fiercest derby?
Lakers-Celtics for basketball, India-Pakistan in cricket, Roger vs Rafa in tennis, these are matches that sports fans around the world look forward to all year long.
In football, though, the sport is so widespread that you have a Premier League fan looking forward to Arsenal vs Manchester United, a Bundesliga fan getting ready for an encounter between Bayern Munich vs Borussia Dortmund and so on in all major football leagues across Europe.
The ‘El Clasico’ between Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona is touted to be one of the most widely watched sporting events across the globe. However, these match-ups mentioned might field the best in the business but the taste of rivalry between two local teams is a different dish to savour altogether.
A derby as it is called, might not gain as much viewership as some of the big games, it might not be the place where you see the best pitted against one another, but it is the sentiment and attachment of everyone in the city that makes it special.
These games come to life thanks to the fans, cheering out loud the team they support, hoping that they come out on top against their local rivals and at the end of it a win gives them insatiable pride and bragging rights until next time they face each other.
The ‘Superclasico’ featuring Argentina’s most successful football clubs, Boca Juniors and River Plate, is by far the most engaging derby spectacle of the football world. These two clubs reportedly make up for 70% of Argentian football fanbase.
Argentina is one of the most storied nations in football and have produced some of the all-time greats ever to have played the game. What makes this an ever more special affair is that this game is seen as a clash of social classes.
While River Plate are based in the affluent city of Nunez they are known as Los Millionares (The Millionaires) whereas the Boca call themselves the people’s club representing the working class.
Some of the famous players of the past & present have donned the jerseys or been on the sidelines as managers for these two great clubs. Be it the likes of Diego Maradona, Batistuta, Hernan Crespo and Riquelme or from the current crop of stars like Radamel Falcao, Alexis Sanchez and Carlos Tevez, this fixture has never disappointed in terms quality on the pitch.
In a history spanning over 102 years, these two giants have faced each other 239 times in official games with Boca edging it 86-78 while the league record stands at 75-67 in 205 games played in the first division of Argentinian football.
However, River Plate have the bragging rights in terms of the league titles won. They have 36 to Boca’s 31, without a record in the country’s football history.
This rivalry, though, reached its nadir in 2011, when River Plate, one of 4 clubs (along with Boca) who were among those to have never been relegated from the top flight, got beaten in the playoffs and got relegated subsequently.
They got promoted in the following year, but Boca fans make sure to remind them of their struggles chanting “River, tell me how it feels to have played in the second division? The stain will never be erased.” All that matters for the fans is to win in the SuperClasico whatever be the situation otherwise.
For all the football on the pitch, a tragedy which rocked this fixture was in 1968 at El Monumental, home of River Plate. A total of 71 people were killed that day. There were more than a couple of sides to this story as to why it happened, but it was one that led to more stringent and well-monitored security measures in the future.
This match has a rich history of fan violence, on-field digs that players have taken at each other and some serious banter from the clubs themselves.
The infamous nicknames that they call each other include River being called ‘Las Gallinas’ – the chickens, for allegedly capitulating in big games while Boca are known as ‘Los Bosteros’ loosely meaning crap dwellers.
Also, quite recently, when River Plate visited Boca, they had fliers all around the stadium indicating the rock bands which performed at River’s stadium. Their intentions clearing meaning that their rivals were more focussed on the attending concerts than playing football while Boca themselves were winning trophies.
All this pre-match banter and post-match potshots at each other, in jest or otherwise, for those 90 minutes, the match itself is a breath-taking spectacle. These fanatical fans, millions in numbers, make their voice heard throughout the nation in the week leading up to the game.
The SuperClasico is one sporting event which appears in most bucket lists, not just for sports fans but everybody. The atmosphere is electric, fans eccentric and the football on the pitch is exhilarating making it an unforgettable experience.
If one ever gets a chance to witness this fierce rivalry first hand, don’t let it slip up. As much as you won’t regret the experience of watching it, it’ll be another page in Argentinian football’s folklore.