Atlético Mineiro and Cruzeiro make one of the biggest rivalries in the world. The two clubs from Belo Horizonte practically monopolize the Campeonato Mineiro, and have clashed in decisive matches in the Brasileirão, Copa do Brasil and continental CONMEBOL competitions of.
Atlético was founded in the early years of the 20th Century, on March 25, 1908. Cruzeiro was founded 13 years later, on January 2, 1921, among the Belo Horizonte's Italian community, as Palestra Itália. In 1942, due to the enmity between Brazil and Italy in the World War II, Palestra had to change its name to Cruzeiro.
The first derby took place on April 17, 1921, with Palestra winning 3–0. The first official match between the two was a 2–1 Atlético win, on May 15, 1921.
Atlético Mineiro's largest win in the history of the Clássico was on November 27, 1927, in a Campeonato Mineiro match. Galo, which was undefeated that season, thrashed Palestra Itália 9–2 and secured its third Championship title.[3]
In the 1931 Campeonato Mineiro, both Atlético and Palestra finished the competition at the top of the table, tied on points. Thus, according to the rules of the championship, a tie-breaking final was necessary, the first one in the history of the fixture. On November 29, Atlético won the first leg 2–1 at Palestra’s stadium. The second leg, which would take place on December 6 at Atlético's stadium, less than 1 mile away from their rival's, did not happen. Atlético had not hired a referee from Rio de Janeiro, as it had been agreed, then gave a list to Palestra with three others from Minas Gerais, which the Italians refused. In addition to that, the preliminary match between the reserve teams had already ended in a fight. The Federation tried to reschedule the match, but Palestra Itália left the entity, which ended up proclaming Galo the champions. As a result of this conflict, in 1932, there were two different championships in Minas Gerais, organized by different associations.[4][5]
In the finals of the 1956 Campeonato Mineiro, after an 1–1 in the first match and a 0–0 in the second, Atlético won the third match 1–0 and won the championship for the fifth time in a row. However, before the last game, Cruzeiro claimed that Atlético had irregularly called in the player Laércio in the second match. Only in 1959, the Superior Court of Sport Justice (STJD) gave the points of the second match to Cruzeiro, legitimizing the club's claim. As the final was now tied and the clubs were against the idea of scheduling a fourth match, the Federation proclaimed both Atlético and Cruzeiro the champions.[6]
The first derby outside of Minas Gerais took place on June 16, 1960, in a friendly match at the Israel Pinheiro Stadium in Brasília, Brazil's recentely founded capital. The clubs were invited to celebrate the peace between the two, by the president Juscelino Kubitschek, born in Minas Gerais and a Cruzeiro fan. This was the only Clássico outside Minas Gerais in Brazil's territory, which ended in a 2–2 draw.[7][8]
The Estádio Governardor Magalhães Pinto, better known as Mineirão, opened on September 5, 1965 and became the home ground of both teams for decades. The first derby at the stadium took place on October 24, 1965, for the Campeonato Mineiro. In the 79th minute of the match, when Cruzeiro was winning 1–0 with a Tostão goal, the referee Juan de La Passion Artéz rawarded a penalty to the Raposa. Atlético's players were outraged with the signaling and some of them fought with the referee and the police. Galo's coach and more nine players were sent off. The referee ended the match with a Cruzeiro win in the Clássico.[9][10]
The beginning of the "Mineirão Era" coincided with a period of dominance by Cruzeiro. With a richly talented team comprising Raul, Piazza, Dirceu Lopes, Natal and Tostão, the Foxes won the 1966 Campeonato Brasileiro and five successive state titles from 1965 to 1969, as Atlético were the runners-up on each occasion.[2]
The first Campeonato Brasileiro match between the two was a 4–0 win for Cruzeiro on March 5, 1967, with an attendance of 91,042 people at Mineirão.[11]
By the mid-70s and 80s, Atlético Mineiro established an impressive cast of players of their own, with João Leite, Luizinho, Cerezo, Paulo Isidoro, Nelinho, Éder and Reinaldo making them one of the most revered forces in Brazilian football. During this period, they consistently outstripped Cruzeiro in their matches and won the Campeonato Mineiro 11 times in 14 seasons along the way.[2]
In the quarterfinals of the 1986 Campeonato Brasileiro, Atlético and Cruzeiro faced each other for the first time in a knock-out stage of national tournament. Galo advenced after two draws, in 0–0 and 1–1, since the team with the better campaign had the advantadge in case of a tie.
The 1993 Copa de Oro reunited the champions of CONMEBOL competitions in 1992. Atlético, as the champions of the Copa Conmebol, and Cruzeiro, as the champions of the Supercopa Libertadores, faced each other in the semifinals, in a single match at Mineirão. After a 0–0 draw, Atlético advanced to the finals after winning 5–4 on penalties.
The Clássico took place in the quarterfinals of the Campeonato Brasileiro again in 1999, after Atlético finished 7th and Cruzeiro 2nd in the first stage. Atlético won the first match 4–2 and the second one 3–2. The topscorer of the championship, Guilherme, scored 4 goals against Cruzeiro and Galo advanced to the semifinals.[12]
The first and only derby outside Brazil was on January 17, 2009, for the semifinals of the Uruguayan friendly tournament Copa Bimbo. Cruzeiro won 4–2 at the famous Estadio Centenário.[13]
Cruzeiro's largest win in the Clássico was on December 4, 2011, in the last round of the Campeonato Brasileiro. The Foxes could be relegated for the first time if they lose the derby, but thrashed Atlético 6–1 at the Arena do Jacaré.[14]
After Atlético winning the 2013 Copa Libertadores and the 2014 Recopa Sudamericana, and Cruzeiro winning the Campeonato Brasileiro in 2013 and 2014, both rivals made to the finals of the 2014 Copa do Brasil. This was the first time a national level tournament final featured both Belo Horizonte clubs. The first game took place at the Arena Independência and Atlético won 2–0. In the second match, Cruzeiro was the home team at Mineirão and Galo won again, by 1–0, being crowned champions of the competition for the first time.
The Clássico took place in the Copa do Brasil again in 2019, this time, in the quarterfinals. Cruzeiro won the first leg 3–0 at Mineirão and lost the second leg 2–0 at Independência, thus winning 3–2 on aggregate and advancing to the semifinals.
The rivalry between the supporters of Atlético and Cruzeiro is very heated and can be seen in provocative flags, tifos, chants and player celebrations towards the opposing side,[15][16] in addition to some violent conflicts between groups of fans.[17] Atlético fans refer to Cruzeiro supporters as "marias", a play on the name of their rivals' main Torcida Organizada, Máfia Azul (Blue Mafia). Meanwhile, Cruzeiro fans refer to their rivals as "frangas" (chickens), alluding to Atlético's mascot, the rooster.[18]
From 1965 to 2010, almost every derby between Atlético Mineiro and Cruzeiro took place at Mineirão, with the fans splitting the stadium in half. Cruzeiro supporters took the city side, to the right of the press tribunes, while Atlético supporters occupied the lake side, to the left of the press tribunes. These names are a reference to the Pampulha Lake, next to the stadium.[19]
Both fanbases claim to be the biggest one in Minas Gerais and the people's club of the state. On Atlético Mineiro's side, the club opened its doors to players from every social class, nationality or ethnicity from an early age, earning a status of a popular club. As a result of this vast popular support, the fans came to be collectively known as "A Massa" (The Mass).[20] On Cruzeiro's side, the club was founded as the representative of the Italian colony of Belo Horizonte, and stood out for having a strong participation from the working class of the community, unlike Atlético and América, which were founded by upper-class students.[21] Alluding to that, in 2015, Cruzeiro's marketing started using the "people's club" slogan, to which Atlético respodend in the same year, claiming to be the "true people's club".[22]
The two teams have different numbers of matches. From the first derby on April 17, 1921, to the mid-1940s, there was no practice of registering the data and results of the games in an official summary. Atlético Mineiro counts all the times the teams went to the playing field and faced each other. Cruzeiro says it does not consider games in which one of them played with their reserve team ("time de aspirantes"). Interestingly, however, there are matches that entered Cruzeiro's accounts that do not appear in Atlético's records.[23][24]
Since 2003, when the Campeonato Brasileiro adopted the round-robin system, one of the teams has beaten their rivals in both matches 7 times. The results are arranged based on the order in which the matches were played, from left to right.
^This game was played as a Campeonato Mineiro match, however, as Palestra Itália abandoned the competition later on, all their matches were considered nulled and did not enter in the final standings of the championship.
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