Football derbies are like nothing else in the world. They are times where fans and supporters come together despite their differences and target a known enemy, real or perceived. These enemies may have been created due to differences centered around geography, culture, socio-economic classes, or politics. These real-life issues provide the high-octane fuel and the game itself, circled in black permanent marker, is the spark. The result is a match with high levels of expectations and hopes that a victory vindicates, for the moment, all the wrongs inflicted upon them and even life itself. Manager’s careers are defined by how their clubs performed against their rivals in the derbies. Some derbies are mild mannered in the same context as hot buffalo wings are considered by some as mild. The Derby della Madonnina featuring the two Milan Serie A clubs is in the same stadium every match. It has cooled somewhat from decades past as fan on fan violence has been replaced by competing ultra groups facing off over which one has the best tifo that insults the other team’s ultra group. Some other derbies are completely weaponized to the level that at each match it is reasonably expected that some form of chaos will prevail on and off the pitch. The most famous of which is the Boca Juniors-River Plate derby (Superclasico) in Buenos Aires. FourFourTwo magazine named Superclasico the biggest derby in the world in 2016. These clubs are separated by geography, culture, and socio-economic factors. This rivalry is arguably the most heated. Last year, things got so bad that the 2nd leg of the Copa Libertadores final between the two was moved to Madrid as a result of a pre-match incident when the Boca Juniors bus was attacked coming to the stadium (not the first time a team bus or players had been attacked). Both teams renewed their acquaintances last week in the 2nd leg of the Copa Libertadores semi-finals with River Plate winning on aggregate, 2-1.
A derby that was not on the FourFourTwo list was played out in Los Angeles last Thursday night in the MLS Western Conference semi-finals. The Los Angeles Galaxy and Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) started playing each other last season when LAFC entered the league as an expansion franchise. Many have resisted calling this a true derby as it is in its only eighteen months old, however, the intensity of the match-up has raced from zero to 60 faster than Dippy running from the police on the beach on I-464 through Norfolk. The Galaxy have been in the league for 24 years and have won five MLS titles. They have had a parade of stars including Landon Donovan and David Beckham (who oddly has a statute out front of the stadium). They were the undisputed kings of LA soccer until 2018. Last year, LAFC had a tremendously successful first season. They created a football culture split in LA. LAFC plays their matches near downtown LA while the LA Galaxy make their home Carson, which is closer to Long Beach than downtown. LAFC made a determined effort to build a solid, diverse, and energetic fan base. Their ultra group, the 3252, went to Borussia Dortmund to learn from the experts the ins and outs of ultra culture. They have quickly become one of the better supporters groups in MLS rivaling Seattle, Atlanta, and Portland in it intensity. LAFC is seen by many as the club that truly represents the culture, diversity, and spirit of Los Angeles. Going into Thursday, LAFC had not defeated the Galaxy in five meetings (two losses, three draws). LAFC during the regular season basically broke every record (goals, points, wins, and flags). Their best player, Carlos Pela, broke the single season goals (34) record set just a year previously. However, it was the Galaxy, in the person of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who had continued to put LAFC in its place by scoring eight goals in the previous five match-ups and taking shots at Carlos Vela.
In a raucous crowd in Banc of California stadium, which turned into a scene reminiscent of a German football stadium on derby day or any hotel room Dippy has inhabited, LAFC thoroughly dominated the Galaxy. Carlos Vela scored the first two goals in the 16th and 40th minute setting the tone for the night. The ghosts of lost socks and keys came back up again as Christian Pavon scored immediately after the last Vela goal and it seemed to most that another LAFC collapse was happening again. This was further amped up by an Ibrahimovic goal past LAFC goalie Tyler Miller who let the ball slip by him like he was holding Jell-O too hard. LAFC manager Bob Bradley made two key subs in the 59th minute with Walter Zimmerman and Adama Diomande. It was Diomande who scored a brace within a 15 minute time span putting the match to rest. The final score line of 5-3 was a product not of spectacular offensive displays leading to incredible goals. It was a product of multiple defensive physical and mental lapses in concentration. LAFC’s xG was 3.0 vs 1.7 for the Galaxy.
This match will probably be known more for Ibrahimovic grabbing his man package as he was leaving the pitch in response to a LAFC supporter giving him the cut throat gesture and Bob Bradley pulling off his inner Jose Mourinho at his post match interview. When asked by ESPN’s Sebastian Salazar about Carlos Vela’s performance in big games:
“Who asked those questions?.....Have they been asked this year? Why would they ask that question?...I don’t think (it’s a fair question) so, after this season? Get lost! Get lost!”
Ibrahimovic, who loves himself some me more than Terrell Owens ever could and is the best interview in MLS, was asked about his possible retirement plans after the match. He could not help, but take another shot at Carlos Pela, the MLS, and all Western democracy:
“This could be my last game. Let’s see what happens. Is that more important than who is winning the MLS [Cup]? Yes, yes it is….Imagine if I don’t play in the MLS. Who will you talk about then?....When you play, you want to get credit back for when you’re playing. … I did my best. I think everybody did their best. What happens next year, I don’t know. If I stay, I think for MLS it’s good because the whole world will watch it. If I don’t stay, nobody will remember what MLS is…..I made LAFC famous, no? I made even (Carlos) Vela famous.”
One may question the hidden truth of Ibrahimovic’s comments if he indeed moves on to a mystery date with another European team or retires from the game all together. He needs the competition and adulation too much to walk away easily so it is more than likely that he will causing trouble in LA or somewhere else very soon. With LAFC finally winning against the Galaxy and everything that came with it, this new derby has now taken a crucial step towards flare immortality.
FourFourTwo magazine ranked Western Germany’s Ruhr region’s Revierderby between Borussia Dortmund and FC Schalke 04 as the 7th biggest derby in the world. This derby was first played on May 3, 1925 and has had 154 matches between them (Schalke has won 60, Dortmund has won 51, and there have been 43 draws). These two classic German clubs play in Dortmund and Gelsenkirchen who are separated by 15 miles in a region known for mining, beer, football, and gloomy skies. It is abundantly clear that supporters from both clubs loathe each other with more passion than Dippy at a “sleepover” with nine of his “clients.” Attack dogs ended up on the pitch in one Revierderby match as it ascended into chaos resulting in at least one player being bitten in the ass – literally. These two rivals have enjoyed over the years knocking each other out of contention for trophies. Last year, Schalke spoiled Dortmund’s run to the Bundesliga title by winning in Dortmund, 4-2.
They faced off again last Saturday in Gelsenkirchen with both clubs being amongst the nine piled up at the top of the league table. It has always been expected that teams in derbies rise to the moment. On Saturday, only one team rose to the occasion. In a stadium bathed in mostly royal blue and white with yellow flares bursting in the air from the away section, Schalke played like the living and Dortmund played like zombies at the end of the escape from Atlanta in the ‘Walking Dead.’ Dortmund lined up Mario Gotze as the lone striker in a catatonic 4-2-3-1 formation. Having only one striker is a strategy of being non-committal on offense and playing it safe hoping for the best. This tactic may make sense when your team is vastly weaker than the opponent (re: Liverpool vs Manchester United from the previous weekend). In the case of this match-up, Dortmund had significantly more potential fire power. One may question whether Dortmund’s maligned manager, Lucien Favre (again, NO relation), was trying to protect Marwin Hitz, his back-up goalie. This is unlikely as it seems that Lucien Favre has been playing it safe for the last year in nearly every match.
The following graphic shows the ineptitude of both clubs on offense. The numbers under each clubs score line is the club’s xG for the match.
The bubbles refer to each clubs’ chances in their opponent’s end of the pitch. The bigger the bubble, the better the chance. Schalke had significantly more quality opportunities and were grossly unlucky as they had two shots hit the post and at least one questionable no call that could have led to a penalty. Dortmund played without creativity, energy, and fortitude throughout the match. One could not even describe it as playing it safe – they did not play competitively at all. The biggest case in point was Dortmund’s Achraf Kakimi, playing out of position in mid-field, was more of a liability than a benefit until he was finally subbed off 75 minutes too late. His performance is charted below:
The double pointed arrows are shots, stars are 1 v 1’s, the ‘x’ resembles tackles, pyramids are fouls (black for committed, white for suffered), and the triangles are aerial duals. Successful attempts are blue and failed attempts are red.
Dortmund’s captain, Marco Reus, was asleep both emotionally and physically as well:
For a derby match, this performance was crippling and lands at the feet of Lucien Favre who appears to have lost the dressing room and his captain. Dippy the Pirate Bear from the 14th floor of his Virginia oceanfront pad smoking whatever he can get while munching on old dry cat food could have done a better job at managing this match.
A major derby in Spain was scheduled for this past week and instead the Camp Nou was empty except for the echoes of chaos. El Clasico featuring Real Madrid and Barcelona is arguably the biggest in the world and is ranked 2nd in FourFourTwo’s rankings. This derby featuring two of the biggest clubs in world football is the most watched in the world. El Clasico is the personification of a derby built on socio-economic and political firestorms that have been present for decades. Books have been written about the undercurrent of the projections of Barcelona and Real Madrid in the politics and history of Spain in the last eighty years. I am being over simplistic, but for the sake of time an keeping this column under 3,000 words, I will put it in these terms. Barcelona is in the Catalonia region of Spain. This region has been attempting to gain independence from its host country for decades. Catalonia has maintained periods of autonomy, but never full independence. Catalonia has its own rich language and culture separate from Spain. Its football team has been a projection of the region’s independent pro-democracy leanings. The target of this passion has been Madrid and specifically, Real Madrid.
Francisco Franco was the dictator of Spain from 1939 through his death in 1975. He came to power after the Nationalist victory in the Spanish Civil War. Catalonia fought against the Nationalists and was brutally beaten as a result. Franco turned to Real Madrid, the country’s best club at the time, to be the true representation of Spain around the world. Real Madrid has since been a projection of the Spanish crown and dictatorship. Conspiracies and truths have been rampant about the behind the scene maneuvers that have “assisted” Real Madrid in maintaining its supremacy over the years. This has only fed the distain from the Catalans and their projection football club representatives at Barcelona. They consider any victory against Real Madrid as more than three points in the tables. To them, a victory over Real is a victory against tyranny and dictatorship. Just imagine being with the rebellion and blowing up the Death Star. That is how it is times one hundred. For the Madridistas, victory over the Catalans is a victory for the crown and the state over the heathens and rebels in Barcelona. It’s more than a football match. I told you this would be as over simplistic as every one of Nicolas Cage’s movies not directed by David Lynch.
The last effort for independence in Catalonia occurred in 2017. An effort was made by the pro-independence movement in the autonomous parliament of Catalonia to launch through a non-state sponsored referendum to declare independence from Spain. The un-official (per Spanish authorities) referendum was held on October 1st, 2017. With just over 44% of the turnout, Catalans voted 93% for independence. On October 27th, 2017 the Parliament of Catalonia declared independence from Spain. Hours later, the parliament of Spain, invoked Article 155 establishing direct rule over Catalonia. Nine conspirators were arrested for sedition and other conspirators went into exile. On October 12th, the supreme court of Spain sentenced the nine “conspirators” to nine to thirteen-year prison sentences for sedition.
The reaction was swift.
For the last two weeks, mass demonstrations with intermittent violence have rocked Catalonia and specifically Barcelona. La Liga, citing the planned demonstrations for the day of the match, requested that El Clasico be moved from the Camp Nou in Barcelona to Real Madrid. Both Barcelona and Real Madrid refused this request. The football association subsequently cancelled the match entirely and began plans to re-schedule the match for a later date. Both clubs decided to re-schedule the match in Barcelona for December 18th. Because nothing is easy involving these two clubs, La Liga filed a lawsuit on October 24th against the two clubs for unilaterally deciding on a new date without involving them.
This past weekend, two derbies played out with their supporters cheering for more than just their teams. They cheered for something bigger than the match itself – a sense of pride and belonging with their team community, their region, their city, their socio-economic class, and political affiliations. Every individual wishes for a sense of belonging to a bigger social group. In most cases, supporting a football team provides that in a functional way. It also gives people a true reality show where life is played out during a football match.
Somewhat logically, one derby did not go as planned because that belonging to a community, a city, a region, a class, an affiliation in life outside of football interfered with football in Barcelona. Life imitates football. Football imitates life.
Author: Keith Lisenbee, mental health professional, writer, and soccer enthusiast is from Atlanta, Georgia by way of Virginia. I was in love with soccer until Agüero destroyed my soul and Manchester United's title hopes in 2012. I came back for the World Cup in 2014 and through the use of DVR, I am back with the force of orange Tic Tacs and IPAs covering the EPL, Bundesliga, MLS, and La Liga. You can follow me on Twitter @keith_lisenbee and Instagram @lisenbeekeith got more random soccer thoughts.