'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
There is nothing quite like the anticipation that a fan feels before a big game. That sense of excitement and nervousness, that sense of anxiety and elation. It is hard to describe that feeling, the goosebumps that accompany you for two straight hours - and you know at the end of it all, you will either be in heaven or hell.
Club rivalries are one of the best things about football. It is not just about 90 minutes, it is about the history of the fixture, about the bragging rights at stake, about a sense of belonging. When Lionel Messi scores a tap-in against Real Madrid, the feeling is just different than when he scores a screamer from 40 yards against any other team.
Football is perhaps the sport with the most storied rivalries in history, simply because the beautiful game spreads across divisions, countries, and continents.
There are hundreds of intense rivalries etched in the history books of this sport - here, we take a look at the biggest and best of those.
#5 Derby Della Capitale: Roma vs. Lazio
Serie A may not be the dominant league which it was a decade ago, but it is still one of the best leagues in the world. The Italian fans are passionate to such an extent that the passion often becomes fanaticism. They want nothing more than their team to win, and as such, Serie A contests are as intense as they get.
Out of all the great rivalries in Italy, none stands out as much as when Lazio take on Roma. In this list, this match is the only one which takes place in a shared stadium and its history has been marred over the past few decades by fighting, racist abuse, anti-semitic banners, riots and death.
In 1979, Lazio fan Vincenzo Paparelli was hit in the eye and killed by a flare fired by a Roma fan from the opposite end of the stadium, becoming the first fatality in Italian football due to violence. That horrific trend has not stopped over the years.
The fans view it as a battle between two clubs fighting for the right to represent the city in the rest of the country and local bragging rights. The fans differ in beliefs, they differ in political opinions and they do not see eye-to-eye in any topic. As such, this game is always alight with racist taunts, abusive banners, and flares. Not a game for the light-hearted.
Also check out: Champions League table La liga table 2019-20 Premier League Table
#4 The North-West Derby - Liverpool vs Manchester United
38 League titles and 9 European Cups are shared between Liverpool and Manchester United, the two greatest clubs in England. Despite the rise and fall of other clubs around them, the North-West Derby will forever remain as the greatest fixture in English football. The only reason it ranks low on this list is that rarely have both teams had their peak at the same time.
Commercially, no club football fixture is bigger than this one - this match attracts hundreds of millions of viewers across the globe, far more than any other league game. The rivalry has been fuelled by the proximity of the two major cities that they represent, their historic economic and industrial rivalry, significant periods of domestic footballing dominance and European success, and their popularity at home and abroad.
While Bob Paisley and Bill Shankly made Liverpool the strongest club in Europe, Sir Alex Ferguson took that status to Manchester United in a 20 year period where the Reds declined. Right now, Liverpool are on the rise again and might lower the gap between them and their rivals in terms of league trophies won. Without a doubt, this game is one of the most highly-anticipated games in football.
#3 The Old Firm Derby - Rangers vs Celtic
“You could take all the derby matches in the world and put them together and they still wouldn't equal one-millionth of the Old Firm. There's nothing like it." - Paolo Di Canio
The Old Firm derby is a rivalry based on the divide in Glasgow at the time of the clubs' formation. However, it is not as simple as that. This rivalry is between the Protestant Rangers and the Catholic Celtic's, it is between two sections of people with different heritage and believes who have not gotten along with their counterparts for ages.
Today, many of the social and cultural divides in Scotland have been tackled, but yet this game remains as hostile and alluring as ever.
Rangers and Celtic are the two clubs which are by far the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply embedded in Scottish culture. It has reflected and contributed to, political, social, and religious division and sectarianism in Scotland. As a result, the fixture is popular worldwide due to the hostility and passion which it brings out.
The two clubs have battled it out for the Scottish first division title for years, and that battle does not seem to have an end. Whenever these two teams meet, expect an exciting clash you will remember for weeks to come.
#2 El Clasico - Real Madrid vs Barcelona
In terms of consistency in quality and fielding the best players in the world, no rivalry comes close to Spain's El Clasico. Real Madrid and Barcelona are the two biggest clubs in the world, and their battles throughout history have been legendary.
The rivalry comes about as Madrid and Barcelona are the two largest cities in Spain, and they are sometimes identified with opposing political positions, with Real Madrid viewed as representing Spanish nationalism and Barcelona viewed as representing Catalan nationalism.
Apart from the cultural significance of this game, the fans compete for bragging rights and dominance over the other in the footballing world. Red cards, players mocking the opposition with celebrations, heated bust-ups, they are all common in this game.
These two teams are also the most followed in the world and their games often decide the outcome of La Liga for that season.
Barcelona leads the head-to-head results in competitive matches with 96 wins to Real Madrid's 95; Barcelona also leads in total matches with 115 wins to Real Madrid's 99 as of match played on 2 March 2019.
Most recently, this match was known for pitting two of the game's greatest players against each other as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo took centre-stage. Despite the absence of the latter since his move to Juventus, El Clasico remains one of the most anticipated games in world football.
#1 Superclasico - River Plate vs Boca Juniors
Superclásico is the football match in Argentina between Buenos Aires rivals Boca Juniors and River Plate. It is the biggest game in South American club football by a considerable margin. In fact, according to some statistics, they commandeer more than 70% of all Argentine football fans between them.
The competitive and intense atmosphere that is shared between the two sides speak volumes about the impact football has had on people’s lives. 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".
The two clubs Boca and River Plate both have origins in La Boca, the working-class dockland area of Buenos Aires. River originated in 1901 and Boca in 1905. River, however, 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, while River Plate became known by the nickname, Los Millonarios (The Millionaires), with a supposedly upper-class support base.
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 violent factions on both sides or with the police. This game is most notably known for its passion as the supporters at the stadium have a deep history with this fixture, and a win or loss can define their entire month.
Due to its history and the cultural significance of this game, the Superclasico is often considered by many to be the greatest rivalry in football.
