Ah, Argentina. The birthplace of tango, Argentinian barbeque, and two footballing geniuses of Lionel Messi and Diego Maradona. It is no secret that when it comes to football in South America, this country, along with neighbor Brazil manage to establish themselves as giants of the world game. In fact, Argentina is the current world champion, having snatched the cup away from France last year in Doha, Qatar. You could say that football is engrained in every Argentinian, so much so, that even a simple football match can pretty much divide a nation.
You might wonder, "how the hell does a football match do that?" The answer lies on the two teams whom we will discuss in this piece. I've told a bit about football rivalries when discussing the Kanjuruhan Stadium Disaster in the back of Indonesia's East Java Super Derby, but this rivalry would make the previous one seems a lot tamer; hell, even the famous El Clasico is no match for a football fixture of this magnitude.
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, the superclásico de futbol Argentino. or the superclásico as it's known to the world. This football fixture involves two teams hailing from the same side of the capital Buenos Aires, in specific, a barrio (neighborhood) called La Boca, which is known as the working-class people of the docklands of southern Buenos Aires. A little history lesson from yours truly: if you take a little peek at most of Argentina's population, you will find most of them had roots from Italy, specifically the Italian immigrants who settled in Argentina, and La Boca happens to be that one area with the most Italian diaspora.
Back to the topic at hand, two teams hailed from this part of the city, which is Club Atletico River Plate (River Plate) founded in 1901, taking their name from Rio de la Plata, and Club Atletico Boca Juniors (Boca Juniors), founded in 1905, and bearing the barrio's name. Both teams were formed in La Boca, but then, River Plate move to the more northern part of Buenos Aires, to a more upper-class neighborhood of Nuñez in 1925. Since then, Boca is known as the working-class club for the people, and adding to their Italian roots, they earned the nickname Xeneize (Genoese), reffering to their roots as Italian immigrants from Genoa. Whilst River Plate is known for their more upper-class fanbase, since they resided in Nuñez, and have a spending habit on signing players, they are known as Los Millonarios (The Millionaires). Despite this, nowadays you can find supporters of both teams on every societal level. Boca Juniors play their home games at the Alberto Jose Armando Stadium or known most commonly as La Bombonera (Spanish for the chocolate box due to the unusual shape), while River Plate call the Monumental Stadium (El Monumental) home. Boca's club colors are blue and yellow, while River Plate sports white and red.
Both teams are known as two of the biggest teams in Argentinian football, sharing over 144 championships both in domestic and continental levels. Among those championships, River currently has more league titles (38 to 35 of Boca's), but Boca collected more Copa Libertadores (the South American equivalent of the UEFA Champions League) trophies (Boca's six to River's four) and more national cups. But beyond the prestige, there is one distinction that River holds but Boca has not: River Plate is currently the only club from the two to ever be relegated to the second division. River suffered this crushing defeat and relegation in 2011, by suffering a 3-1 defeat over two legs against Belgrano, which placed 4th in the National B Division (Belgrano defeated River 2-0 and drew 1-1 at El Monumental). Since then, River promoted themselves back to the Premier Division in 2012 and claimed multiple honors on the span of 7 years. Along the way, they collected two Copa Libertadores titles, 1 Copa Sudamericana title, and one Argentinian Super Cup. When it comes to overall head-to-heads, in 260 official matches across many competitions, both in domestic and continental level, Boca Juniors currently holds the advantage over River Plate, with 91 wins over 86 of River's, with 83 of those occasions where they share the spoils. Boca also lead in total goals scored, 334 to 317.
Then what makes this rivalry so famous then? The answer is passion. Argentinians have an undying passion for football, especially when it comes to two of the biggest teams in the country. At the very least, many supporters of both sides have come up with various (and mostly degrading) nicknames for each other, as well as showing their supports to their own teams. When it comes to supporters of their own sides, they claim to represent not just the entire Buenos Aires, but also all of Argentina, with Boca fans calling themselves La Mitad Más Uno (Half Plus One), and River fans call themselves El País Menos Algunos (A Country Minus a Few). It is another story when it comes to the opposing sides, with Boca fans called River Plate las gallinas (chicken) due to the perception that River players lacked guts, supposedly given after River Plate's 1966 Copa Libertadores finals series loss to Uruguayan side Peñarol, and River fans called Boca Juniors either los chanchitos (little pigs) or bosteros (manure collectors) due to the claim that the area near La Bombonera always smells of bodily waste, and also the existence of a polluted river in La Boca. In every season, a fixture where River Plate is due to play Boca Juniors, there is a sense of anticipation and an air of tense glaring both neighborhoods; and every match is guaranteed a classic, from goals to growing tensions both on and off the pitch. Hell, even their playing philosophies are drastically different. River Plate tend to stick to the fundamentals, bringing the beautiful game for the spectacle. For them, a victory is only a victory if earned with honor, whilst Boca tend to have this "anything goes" mentality when playing their football. For Boca, the end result matters, no matter how clean or how dirty they have to play to achieve those results.And when the match took place, expect passion, drama, and outright hostility from both sets of fans. Hell, some of them can be described as utter chaos, like the Gate 12 Tragedy (Puerta 12 in Spanish) in 1968, where 71 lives were claimed and left 150 more injured, as a result of a stampede at gate 12 of El Monumental. There are many versions of the recounts as told by many eyewitnesses, and all involving several fans of either side acting aggressively to their opposing counterparts.
I've mention that the superclasico is the most famous football derby in the world, but what would happen if they threw a trophy into the mix? That was the case of the 2018 Copa Libertadores Final. Both Boca and River reach the final stage, which was contested over two-legged matches at the time, with the side with the most combined goals over two legs get their hands on the Libertadores title. The first leg, played at La Bombonera ended in a 2-2 draw, which means the title contention is still pretty much anyone's game. But by the time the second leg rolled around, slated to be played at El Monumental, chaos broke, as River fans bombarded Boca's player bus with various projectiles, even at one point broke some of the glass to allow pepper spray to enter the cabin. After much consideration from CONMEBOL, the second leg venue was moved to Madrid, more specifically the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, home of 14-time UEFA Champions League winners Real Madrid, much to both River and Boca's chagrins. Despite all the setbacks, it was inside this hallow Madrid ground where River Plate prevailed with a 3-1 win after extra time (5-3 on aggregate). River would enter another Copa Libertadores final the next year, now played as a single game in neutral ground in a losing effort against Flamengo of Brazil, played in Lima, Peru. Boca Juniors would enter another final in 2023, and again losing to a Brazilian team, in this case Fluminense at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.
The selection of Madrid as the second leg final venue sparks an irony of its own, which deserves a piece of its own. But in a nutshell, "Copa Libertadores" literally translates to "The Liberator's Cup", owning its name to the leaders of the Latin American Wars of Independence who fought to liberate the region from Spain. It's important to note that both River Plate and Boca Juniors appealed this decision, along with Boca's another appeal to have River disqualified, which went bust.
So, what do I think about this legendary rivalry? Consider that this is happening in Argentina, I have to say that the passion of the fans is unlike anything I've seen since I decided to follow football full time. From the north to the south, Buenos Aires have an undying football scene, and all thanks to both River Plate and Boca Juniors. I've watched some Copa Libertadores on my spare time, and I would love to watch some again to experience the atmosphere of South American football.
