Derby Week: Mexico's heated Super Clasico is a duel of millionaires and traditionalists
Club America is known for attracting the best domestic players to its ranks and often engages quality foreigners. CD Guadalajara, on the other hand, has a strong preference for local footballers from the state of Jalisco. The Clasico rivalry, a clash of Mexico's two biggest cities, strongest clubs and differing philosophies, is on the agenda three times in just 10 days.
Club America is based in the metropolis of Mexico City, whose entire conurbation is home to nearly 22 million people, making it one of the largest cities ever in the world, and is itself Mexico's second largest centre. It lies 550 kilometres west of the metropolis in the state of Jalisco. The Guadalajara region, with a population of over five million, overlaps with the Monterrey agglomeration to the north for the second largest settlement in the country.
Mexico City and Guadalajara are the most powerful, not only in terms of population, but also in terms of football - clearly the biggest social phenomenon that permeates the entire Mexican population. Club America and CD Guadalajara are the two most successful clubs in the country. Neither has ever left the top flight.
Club America also has big rivals in the likes of Cruz Azul and Club Universidad Nacional (aka Pumas U.N.A.M), two city rivals. This trio of clubs from the capital, along with Guadalajara, make up the so-called Big Four (Los Cuatros Grandes). The hottest derbies are the clashes between all three of the big rivals from Mexico City, but by far the match with the most heated rivalry is the one between Club America and CD Guadalajara.
It is referred to as El Clasico de Clasicos, El Super Clasico and other superlatives.
Sources and resources
Club America and CD Guadalajara (better known as Chivas) are also in opposition in terms of the philosophy they both follow. Club America is known for engaging the best and most expensive footballers on the market, including famous foreigners. Big investment in the squad is a long-standing feature.
Since 1959, the club has been owned by Mexican media giant conglomerate Televisa, and is backed by a number of other powerful partners.
It has also been given the infamous nickname Millonetas (Millionaires) because of this. It is considered a section of the rich, and is popular among the upper and 'well-to-do' class of society. It is one of the most supported in Mexico, but it is also the most hated.
Chivas do football in a very different way. They rely heavily on homegrown players, ideally straight from the state of Jalisco, and even better, players from their own academy. Some of their most famous products include long-time national team mainstays Javier Hernandez, known as Chicharito, and Carlos Vela.
As the two biggest clubs, Club America and CD Guadalajara also have the largest fan bases. The size of the supporters' camps of both rivals reaches tens of millions of people. Both rivals have fans spread not only throughout Mexico but also abroad thanks to a very large diaspora. The most prominent, of course, is in the United States, where Mexicans are a large minority (according to the last census, 37 million of them live in the US and represent 60% of the Hispanic population there).
It was for these fans that the Super Clasico was played on US soil last October. During the national break, a friendly match took place at the Rose Bowl stadium with a capacity of over 90,000 spectators in Pasadena, California. Club America won 2-0.
The two rivals are now facing each other on the continental stage. This time, however, it's for real. Mexican football's biggest rivals are battling each other in the CONCACAF (Confederation of North and Central American and Caribbean Football Associations) Champions League eight-finals.
The first match in Guadalajara last week ended in a clear 3-0 victory for America. The rematch is scheduled for Thursday at 3:30am. It will be played in the famous Azteca Stadium, one of the largest in the world. The spicy thing is that the Super Clasico will be played again in just three days' time - this weekend in the Mexican League in Guadalajara.
Another derby of the week
Wednesday, March 13th
Iran - Persian Gulf Pro League
Tehran derby
The Tehran derby is one of the winningest and biggest football derbies in Asia. Persepolis represents the working class of not only the Iranian capital, but the entire country. Esteghlal is historically representative of the upper class. The atmosphere of the derby is currently affected by the general crisis in the country.
Thursday, March 14th
Uruguay - Primera Division
Clasico de los medianos
Penarol and Nacional dominate football in Uruguay. After them (after their 51 and 49 titles respectively), there is nothing for a long, long time, and then (coincidentally with four league triumphs) two more teams from Montevideo - Defensor and Danubio. Their derby is somewhat derisively called "Clásico of those from the middle of the table".
Friday, March 15th
Poland - Ekstraklasa
Poznan derby
The Poznan derby is a duel between David and Goliath. Lech has long been one of Poland's top clubs, while Warta returned to the First League in 2020 after 25 long years. Yet the roles of both have been reversed in the past, with Warta garnering success mainly in the pre-war era. Since its return to the Ekstraklasa, it has not yet won a point against its big city rival.
Saturday, March 16th
England - Championship
South Wales derby
A clash between two of the clearly strongest clubs in the whole of Wales, so their contest could be referred to as the Welsh Derby, the Battle of Wales, etc. In addition to Cardiff and Swansea, three other Welsh clubs are part of the English league system - Newport County, Wrexham and Merthyr Town. They have joined the English competitions in the past simply because they wanted to compete in better competition.
Poland - Ekstraklasa
Wielkie derby Slaska (Great Silesian Derby)
The Upper Silesian cities of Zabrze and Chorzow belong to a huge conurbation around the city of Katowice, which has a population of over two million. The two settlements are separated by only 15 kilometres. And both are home to major clubs. Gornik and Ruch have each won 14 Polish titles. Only Legia Warsaw (15) is the better club in the country in this respect.
Tunisia - Ligue 1
Esperance Tunis - Club Africain
Tunisian derby
Esperance Sportive de Tunis (sometimes referred to as ES Tunis) and Club Africain are the two most successful Tunisian clubs. ES Tunis has been league champion 32 times, while Club Africain is second in the historical tables with 13 titles. Both rivals are based in the country's capital, Tunis. They will now clash in the Championship Group for the title.
Ecuador - Serie A
Superclasico de Quito
Along with Aucas and LDU Quito, another big club is based in the capital of Ecuador. This is El Nacional, which is even more successful compared to LDU and Aucas. However, the bigger rivalry within Quito has developed between the LDU and Aucas teams. At the start of the 2024 season, both rivals are still 100 percent.
Sunday, March 17th
Brazil - Campeonato Carioca
Fla-Flu
Fla-Flu (Flamengo vs Fluminense) is an urban derby between two big Brazilian clubs from Rio de Janeiro. The Fla-Flu derby holds the world record for attendance at a league match. In 1963, 194,603 spectators came to watch it at the famous Maracana Stadium. Now, the rivals face off in the semifinals of the Rio de Janeiro State League playoffs.
Netherlands - Eerste Divisie (2nd league)
Limburg derby
Limburg is a region on the border between Belgium and the Netherlands. The Limburg derby is played in both parts. On the Belgian side, it is KRC Genk against Sint-Truiden, while on the Dutch side the two biggest regional rivals are Maastricht and Roda Kerkrade. Roda won the last derby 1-0.
Indonesia - Liga 1
Jateng Derby (Central Java Derby)
Jateng is an abbreviation for the region of Central Java (Jawa Tengah). The cities of Semarang and Surakarta (also called Solo) are approximately 100 km apart. Clubs from both cities are the only representatives of the Central Java region in the top competition. The derby for Central Java is always very tense. Violent clashes between fans regularly occur.
Spain - LaLiga
Valencian Community Derby
The town of Vila-real is located about 55 kilometres north of Valencia. The local club Villarreal only became a big football brand after 1997, when Fernando Roig bought the club. A powerful businessman from the region, whose brother Francisco was the owner of Valencia at the time. This created a very interesting family rivalry.
England - FA Cup
North-West derby
Manchester United and Liverpool are historically the most successful English clubs. Liverpool have won a total of 68 trophies, United 67. The North-West derby is one of the strongest rivalries in the world. Now the two giants will face off in the quarter-finals of the famous FA Cup, the oldest club competition on the planet.
Slovakia - Fortuna Liga
Slovan Bratislava - Spartak Trnava
Traditional derby
The duel between Slovan Bratislava and Spartak Trnava has long been the biggest match in Slovak football. It represents not only a sporting rivalry, but also a competitive relationship between the capital Bratislava and Trnava, just 50 kilometres away. Two weeks ago, the two rivals faced each other in the regular season (2-0), and now they will face each other in the Championship Group for the title.