Avellaneda derby

The Avellaneda derby (Spanish: ClÃÂ¡sico de Avellaneda) is the second-most important rivalry in Argentine football. It is contested between Independiente and Racing Club.

It is the second-most important local derby, behind the SuperclÃÂ¡sico contested between Boca Juniors and River Plate, which are both based in the city of Buenos Aires. The Avellaneda derby is a major football rivalry. Both teams are very popular in Argentina, and are two of the "five big teams of Argentinian football."

History

Both clubs were founded in the early years of the 20th century, Racing on 25 March 1903 and Independiente on 1 January 1905. Independente were founded in Buenos Aires and moved to Avellaneda in 1907.

The first encounter between Independiente and Racing (reserve teams) was on 9 June 1907, with Independiente winning 3Ã¢ÂÂ2 when both clubs were competing in lower divisions. Independiente wore a white with blue pocket shirt while Racing wore a squared pink and light blue shirt (both were their first official colours). Independiente and Racing senior squads played against for the first time in Segunda DivisiÃÂ³n in 1910. The match was won by Independiente 1Ã¢ÂÂ0.
The first Primera DivisiÃÂ³n match was played on 12 December 1915 at Crucecita Stadium (Independiente's venue) where the local team won 2Ã¢ÂÂ1, but the result was overturned and Racing were awarded the victory. The two points from that game were enough for Racing to go on to win the 1915 championship.
Racing Club dominated Argentine football during the 1910s, winning more titles than any other surviving team during those years; between 1913 and 1921 Racing won 20 titles to Independiente's 3 in the same period of time.
Racing Club's dominance extended into the 1950s where they became the first team (in the professional era) to win three consecutive championships (1949, 1950 and 1951).
In 1964, Independiente became the first Argentine team to win the Copa Libertadores.
In 1967, Racing Club became the first Argentine club to win the Copa Intercontinental; this achievement marked the end of Racing Club's supremacy.
Between 1972 and 1975, Independiente won an unprecedented four consecutive Copa Libertadores titles.
In 1984, Independiente won their seventh Copa Libertadores, earning them the nickname "King of Cups."
In 2001, Racing Club won the Apertura, their first league title in 35 years.
The most recent local title earned by either of the two clubs was the 2018-19 Argentine Primera DivisiÃÂ³n, won by Racing Club.
In 2017, Independiente won their second Copa Sudamericana, the last international title earned by either team.
In 2019, Racing achieves its second local league in 5 years and the "champions trophy", a national cup.

Violence

The November 26, 1961, saw the most violent game between the two clubs, the referee was forced to suspend the game for 6 minutes due to fighting amongst the players. The referee eventually sent off 4 players from each team. The game ended in a 1Ã¢ÂÂ1 draw.

On August 13, 2006, the Avellaneda derby was abandoned after violence between the fans escalated out of control. Independiente were winning 2Ã¢ÂÂ0 in La Doble Visera when rioting started in the away stands. The Racing fans then started to attack the police, the game was eventually abandoned by referee Horacio Elizondo. The three points from the game were eventually awarded to Independiente.

Stadiums

The two stadiums are only a few hundred metres apart. Independiente play at the Estadio Libertadores de AmÃÂ©rica, commonly known as Libertadores de AmÃÂ©rica; it was originally opened on 4 March 1928. Racing Club play at the Estadio Presidente PerÃÂ³n, commonly known as El Cilindro; it was opened on 3 September 1950.

Statistics

Head-to-head

Matches record as of March 16, 2025:

Primera DivisiÃÂ³n matches

Complete list of games played in Primera DivisiÃÂ³n since the first derby of 1915:

Notes

Head-to-head statistics in Primera DivisiÃÂ³n

National cups matches

Complete list of games played in national cups:

Head-to-head statistics in National cups

International cups matches

Complete list of games played in national cups:

Head-to-head statistics in international cups

Titles by club

Independiente highlights

On November 3, 1940, Independiente beat Racing 7Ã¢ÂÂ0, the biggest winning margin in the history of the derby.
On August 20, 1961, Independiente secured a 4Ã¢ÂÂ0 home win, but it was not enough to stop Racing club from eventually winning the championship.
On December 17, 1967, on the last day of the Nacional Independiente beat the visiting Racing Club team 4Ã¢ÂÂ0 with 2 goals from Luis Artime to win the championship.
The last round of fixtures during the Metropolitano 1970 saw River Plate beat UniÃÂ³n de Santa Fe 6Ã¢ÂÂ0 to give them a chance of stealing the championship for Independiente. On July 27 Independiente travelled to El Cilindro eventually winning the game 3Ã¢ÂÂ2 to give them the championship by the narrowest of margins, they finished level on points with River, both teams with a +18 goal difference, Independiente had scored 43 goals to River's 42.
On March 24, 1974, Independiente beat Racing 4Ã¢ÂÂ1 with a hat-trick from Ricardo Bochini, the only one he scored in 714 games for the club.
On May 19, 1974, during the Metropolitano 1974 Independiente won 5Ã¢ÂÂ1 at El Cilindro. They repeated the 5Ã¢ÂÂ1 away win less than one year later on March 2, 1975, in the Metropolitano 1975.
On December 22, 1983, in the last game of the Metropolitano Independiente knew that a win would see them crowned champions what's more the visiting Racing team had already been relegated from the Primera for the first time in the professional era of Argentine football. Independiente won 2Ã¢ÂÂ0 with goals from Ricardo Giusti and Enzo Trossero to win the championship.
In the 1994 Opening Tournament, Independiente wins the derby after 11 years of not being able to achieve it.
In the 1997 Opening Tournament, Independiente wins the derby in La Doble Visera after 14 years of not being able to achieve it.
On August 19, 2002, Independiente won 4Ã¢ÂÂ1 at River Plate Stadium on their way to winning the Apertura 2002 championship.
On September 11, 2005, Independiente won 4Ã¢ÂÂ0 at La Doble Visera, with a hat-trick from NicolÃÂ¡s Frutos and the best goal of Sergio AgÃÂ¼ero.
On November 25, 2017, Independiente, with reserve players, won 1-0 at El Cilindro.

Racing highlights

On May 31, 1931, the teams were due to meet for the first round of fixtures of the professional era of Argentine football. Racing asked to postpone the game and Independiente accepted. This meant that the first game between the two took place on September 27 at Racing Club's ground the eventual score was 7Ã¢ÂÂ4 to Racing, it still stands as the highest scoring game between the two.
On September 15, 1963, Racing secured a 4Ã¢ÂÂ0 away win, but Independiente recovered to win the championship virtually mirroring the events of 1961.
On November 20, 1966, Racing Club were crowned as champions, one week later they played Independiente, and the game finished 3Ã¢ÂÂ3.
On September 21, 1975, during the Nacional Racing won 5Ã¢ÂÂ4 in el Cilindro with Alberto Jorge scoring 4 goals, three from the penalty spot. Jorge is the only player to score 4 in the Avellaneda derby and this was the last time that Racing were given 3 penalties in a game.
In 1992 Racing Club and Independiente met in the Supercopa Sudamericana, Racing Club won their home leg 2Ã¢ÂÂ1 and on October 8, 1992, held Independiente to a 0Ã¢ÂÂ0 draw to win on aggregate. It is the only time the two have met in international competition.
On August 26, 2001, in the 2nd round of fixtures Racing Club's Gabriel Loeschbor scored in the last minute of the game to earn a 1Ã¢ÂÂ1 draw. At the end of the Apertura 2001 Racing won the championship by one point.
In 2015 they met in the "Liguilla Pre-Libertadores", Racing won 2Ã¢ÂÂ0 the first leg in the Independiente's stadium, Independiente won 2Ã¢ÂÂ1 in the Racing's stadium, but Racing qualified to the Copa Libertadores by an aggregate score of 3Ã¢ÂÂ2.
On February 23, 2019, the Derby was played at the Libertadores de AmÃÂ©rica, Racing came as the leader of the championship and Independiente had hopes of damaging Racing chances of winning the tournament. Racing defeated Independiente 3Ã¢ÂÂ1 and got a very important victory that would allow them to remain as leader and eventually get their 18th championship on March 31, 2019, after drawing against Tigre.
On February 9, 2020, Racing obtained a remarkable 1Ã¢ÂÂ0 victory while playing with 9 men for the whole second half.

Players for both clubs

This is a non-exhaustive list of players to have played for both clubs.