Fiercest Rivalries in the World of Football

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Football the beautiful game, can sometimes become a matter of life and death for some clubs amd its supporters. Cultural, as well as regional differences contribute to the fierceness of these clashes and performances of players in such matches decide whether they will be eternally loved or hated. A mistake or a moment of magic can create history, but can also result in mayhem, brawls, fights, clashes & riots. These are the 10 most fierce and important rivalries in the world of football. 10. Corinthians vs Palmeiras Derby Paulista is the name that is known among the traditional São Paulo soccer clubs, Sport Club Corinthians Paulista and Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras. It is the rivalry between two football clubs still present in the oldest city of São Paulo. The Paulista Derby is among the 10 greatest classic rivalries of the world. Corinthians and Palmeiras have already decided state championships (Campeonato Paulista), regional trophy (Torneio Rio-São Paulo), national championship (Campeonato Brasileiro) and wave to the end of continental club competition (Libertadores Cup of America). No other classic rivalry has decided so many major championships. The biggest rivalry in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, SE Palmeiras and Corinthians have always come under a lot of attention when come across each other. There have been books written and films documented about this rivalry, including a very famous version of Romeo and Juliet in which Palmeiras and Corinthians take the place of the Montagues and Capulets. 9 Nacional vs Penarol One of football’s classic derbies, since the 19th century, the Uruguayan Clásico is the confrontation between the two greatest teams of Montevideo: Nacional and Peñarol. Both teams have... ... middle of paper ... ...ir anger that one of them threw a pig’s head on Luís Figo during a El Clasico. Luis Enrique switched from Real Madrid to Barcelona in 1996 and went on to captain the Blaugrana. Brazilian forward Ronaldo played for both Barcelona and Real Madrid. Now the rivalry is between two players who are currently the best in the world period. Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid and Lionel Messi from Barcelona A 2007 survey done by the Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas proved that Real Madrid had the largest fan following in Spain with 32.8%, while Barcelona had 25.7%. The next team, Valencia CF, was third with 5.3%. But overall Barcelona is the most popular team in Europe. Meanwhile according to another survey made by SPORT+MARKT in 2009, Barcelona have about 44.2 million supporters all over Europe, which is about 2.9 million more than that of Real Madrid supporters.

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