Classico Mineiro
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Clássico Mineiro (German classic from Minas Gerais ) is the Portuguese name for the city derby between the football clubs Atlético Mineiro and Cruzeiro Esporte Clube from Belo Horizonte , the capital of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais . It is one of the most important football derbies in Brazil .
history
Atlético was founded in 1908 by high school graduates from higher circles and initially had a rivalry with the local América Futebol Clube , which was also founded in 1912 by members of the higher circles. Their initial rivalry, however, was purely athletic and not yet characterized by the violent clashes that have often surrounded today's Clássico Mineiro . The main difference between Atlético and América was that the Atlético team initially consisted of teenagers and young men, while America was initially launched as a children's team and only later opened up to teenagers and adults. But America quickly overtook their older city rivals. After Atlético won the city championship of Belo Horizonte, which was held for the first time in 1915 , the young América FC won the championship in the following ten years.
In 1921 another club was founded within the Italian community of Belo Horizonte with the Societá Sportiva Palestra Itália (renamed Cruzeiro in 1942), whose team was runner-up behind the series winner América in each of the four consecutive seasons from 1922 to 1925 and thus the previous runner-up Atlético referred further back. In the first four years of its existence, the club was only open to Italians and did not open up to the rest of the population until 1925 in order to be able to sign good Brazilian players on the one hand and to achieve greater acceptance among the population on the other.
After America's supremacy came to an end, Atlético won the city championship twice (1926, 1927) and Cruzeiro three times (1928, 1929, 1930) in the following five years, which meant that both clubs met on an equal footing: the traditional Atlético - which was already in the founding years the city (it was only designed on the drawing board in 1897 ) - against the new and "foreign Italian" association Palestra Itália, which was able to mobilize a similar number of spectators at that time. Even then, the two teams faced each other irreconcilably.
As early as 1927, there were reports of spectator riots at a derby for the first time. After initially some Atlético fans misbehaved in the stands, there were corresponding backlashes from angry Palestra fans, who are said to have behaved disrespectfully towards some older women, among other things. Two years later, turmoil broke out again when Atlético lost the derby 5-2. In a press article from those days you could read that the curve of Atlético fans began to empty shortly before the end of the game and that some of the fans were uncomfortably noticed by fights and other disruptions when leaving the stadium. A newspaper reporter also added fuel to the fire when he wrote in his report that Palestra was founded solely for the purpose of always defeating Atlético. These lines heated up the derby atmosphere and in the following years there was repeated violence by fan groups around the derby, both inside and outside the stadium.
In its September 10, 1931 edition, the Minas Geraes newspaper wrote about the derby: “Palestra and Atlético are seen by our sports fans as powerful and irreconcilable rivals. Indeed, there have been times when the rivalry was so great that attempts to allay mutual dislikes were futile. Occasionally the two opponents exchanged friendliness, but as soon as the ball rolled, the etiquette was forgotten. "
If the derbies managed to get by without any noteworthy tumult in the years to come, they were soon back on the agenda. The newspaper Folha de Minas wrote in its edition of August 6, 1935: “The course of the game turned out to be a slaughter and that also had an effect on the reactions of the audience. After the game, there were some unsightly scenes that were used by less responsible elements to fight inside and outside the venue. "
Half a year later, in January 1936, the hitherto unpleasant scenes on the pitch occurred when the players fouled each other and constantly complained about the decisions of the referees. Unsportsmanlike conduct of the same kind marked the next derby, which took place four weeks later. Disgusted by the constant bullying of the players, around a third of the audience left the stadium peacefully (!) At this derby - which lasted for almost two and a half hours due to the many interruptions. In June of the same year, the police marched so brutally into both fan blocks that they had to take massive criticism for their work.
Another escalation occurred at the derby in January 1938, when two Palestra Italia players acted so rowdy on the field that they were arrested by the police and taken to the station. A similarly brutal derby took place in June 1940 when massive protests broke out after both a goal for Atlético and a penalty decision in favor of Palestra Itália, as a result of which some players and coaches were arrested.
During the Second World War , when the Brazilian government allied itself with the anti-Hitler coalition against the Axis powers (consisting of Germany and Italy among others ), the use of "hostile languages" was banned. As a result, Palestra Itália was forced to adopt a new name. It was decided to use the name Cruzeiro ; after the Cruzeiro do Sul , which is also included in the Brazilian flag .
Over the decades, the derby has retained its explosiveness and the violence assumed new dimensions. For example, in February 2009, a group of Cruzeiro motorcycling supporters fired shots into a crowd of supporters of city rival Atlético. A fan of the black and white was killed.
And just recently (in September 2018) the striker Luan Madson Gedeão de Paiva , who is under contract with the Clube Atlético, emphasized in front of a Clássico Mineiro: "We are expecting a military conflict, just like all derbies were."
The finals of the Copa do Brasil , which were played between the two opponents in November 2014 , prove that the derby in Belo Horizonte is a very special game for the entire region . The interest in this special cup final was so great in the state of Minas Gerais that the newspaper Estado de Minas banned all other news as "unimportant" from the front page on the day of the final and devoted it exclusively to the derby. Atlético won the finals (2-0 and 1-0), but Cruzeiro was able to comfort himself over this defeat by winning the Brazilian soccer championship in the same year .
popularity
The Clube Atlético Mineiro got rid of its upper class image at an early stage, which its old rival América retained, and successfully declared itself a popular association. This aspect is defined, among other things, by the club colors, which are intended to show that, regardless of skin color and social origin, all people are welcome in the club.
So it is hardly surprising that, according to representative surveys, Atlético Mineiro has the highest sympathy ratings in his hometown Belo Horizonte and on average also has more visitors at home games, while the more successful Cruzeiro EC in national and international competitions both in the state of Minas Gerais also enjoys greater popularity in Brazil.
statistics
Derby balance sheet
There are no general derby statistics, as both clubs have their own statistics, which only have in common that Atlético Mineiro has more victories than Cruzeiro. The statistics published here were taken from the derby balance sheet kept by Goal.com . Most of the results (472 up to June 12, 2016) are published on Footballderbies.com.
| As of September 30, 2018 | Atlético Mineiro | - | Cruzeiro EC |
| Games | Victories
|
draw | Victories
|
Goal difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 506 | 205 | 134 | 167 | 721: 640 |
The titles in direct comparison
Note: The competitions listed in italics will no longer be held.
| competition | title
|
Last | title
|
Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Copa Libertadores | 1 | 2013 | 2 | 1997 |
| Recopa Sudamericana | 1 | 2014 | 1 | 1998 |
| Copa Conmebol | 2 | 1997 | 0 | |
| Copa Master de Supercopa | 0 | 1 | 1994 | |
| Copa Ouro | 0 | 1 | 1995 | |
| Supercopa Sudamericana | 0 | 2 | 1992 | |
| Brazilian champion | 1 | 1971 | 4th | 2014 |
| Brazilian cup winner | 1 | 2014 | 6th | 2018 |
| State Master of Minas Gerais | 44 | 2017 | 38 | 2018 |
| State Cup winner from Minas Gerais | 4th | 1987 | 5 | 1985 |
Web links
- “The derby of all derbies” of Minas Gerais highlands: the genesis of soccer rivalry between Athletico and Palestra (English; study from 2016)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Euan Marshall: Brazilian Soccer Rivalries: Everything You Need to Know (Article from June 20, 2017)
- ↑ Football derbies: rivals for all eternity (article from February 20, 2009)
- ↑ Nathàlia Almeida: É guerra: Atlético-MG adota discurso 'inflamado' antes de clássico mineiro (Portuguese; article from September 12, 2018)
- ↑ Atletico Mineiro defeat local rivals Cruzeiro to win first Brazilian Cup (English; article from November 27, 2014)
- ↑ Omar Gisler: Top Clubs - The largest clubs in the world . Munich: Copress 2003, p. 57f. ISBN 3-7679-0827-1
- ↑ Omar Gisler: Football Derbies - The 75 Most Football Crazy Cities in the World . Munich: Copress 2007, p. 28. ISBN 978-3-7679-0883-3
- ↑ Stefan Tarras: The great football clubs in the world . Munich: Copress 1989, p. 225. ISBN 3-7679-0281-8
- ↑ Omar Gisler: Football Derbies - The 75 Most Football Crazy Cities in the World , p. 29
- ↑ Jean Damien Lesay: 1000 Football Clubs . Universe 2016, p. 211. ISBN 978-0-7893-3110-6
- ↑ Jean Damien Lesay: 1000 Football Clubs , p 209
- ↑ Omar Gisler: Top Clubs - The largest clubs in the world , p. 67
- ↑ Lavo: Derbies in Brazil Part 1 (article from July 19, 2009)
- ↑ Brazilian Rivalries: The Clássico Mineiro Explained (English; accessed November 28, 2018)
- ↑ Atlético-MG x Cruzeiro: números, gols e estatísticas históricas (Portuguese; article from April 2, 2018. The matches that followed were added.)
- ↑ Derby results at footballderbies.com (accessed November 27, 2018)