Football's Greatest Rivalries: Part 2

Continuing with the series of articles, here are great rivals #7 to#4. Remember, the selection criterion isn’t the history or bad blood between the clubs, but the competitiveness associated between them off late.

7. AC Milan vs Inter Milan

The Milan football club split around the beginning of the 20th Century into two different clubs, AC Milan and Inter Milan, due to some tension between the board members regarding signing foreign players. Since then, no love has been lost between them, and their matches just keep on getting fiercer and fiercer. Both the clubs are easily the most successful Italian clubs recently (no offense Juventus fans), and one may even rate Milan as the most successful footballing city in Europe (Milan has won 7 European championships, Inter has won 3, the only city rivaling them might be Madrid), making the fans all the more football crazy and sharing a stadium means more fans reaching the stadium to cheer them on. The ‘Derby della Madonnina’ is one clash to watch out for!

Last encounter: AC Milan 2 – 1 Inter Milan

6. Chelsea vs Arsenal

While not traditional rivals, with Tottenham and Fulham occupying those places, the London derby between Chelsea and Arsenal is the London Derby to watch. Ever since Roman’s blessings started working their magic at Stamford, both clubs are fierce competitors for the Premier League Crown and can safely be called the members of a revised ‘Big 4′ (the Manchester clubs occupying the other places, obviously). Their mutual hatred reached its pinnacle since Ashley Cole’s move to Chelsea, and is always a match that is worth watching!

Last encounter: Arsenal 5 – 3 Chelsea

5. Arsenal vs Manchester United

The second highest rated rivalry in England according to me (pardon the spoiler). Both clubs have an array of trophies, both have a fantastic line- up, and each match between the two causes tension, and I mean REAL tension, both on and off the field. With Arsenal going on to win a season unbeaten after an extremely heated ‘Battle of Old Trafford’, and Manchester United ending their 40- match no loss streak next season, this rivalry had reached its pinnacle, but has degraded slightly in the span of the last year, but you never know what the Gooners are up to!

Last encounter: Arsenal 1- 2 Manchester United

4. Bayern Munich vs Real Madrid

The only cross country club rivalry on this list, the two European giants just had to feature high on this list! This match up is the one that has been played most often in the Champions league (14 times). The Madrid loyals refer to Bayern as the ‘Bestia Negra’ which roughly translates to ‘the black beast’, due to Bayern’s match winning ways in most cases. With the ‘madman of Bernabeu’ going to the extent of yanking poor Gerd Muller’s hair, or Juanito stamping the ground and missing it by a bit (it landed on Lothar Mathaus’s head), this match, although rare, is still a high stakes one!

Last encounter: Bayern Munich 1 – 2 Real Madrid (3-3 agg.) (3- 1 on pen.)

Keep following the series to know about the top 3 rivalries in the football world. And please do mention any inaccuracies or errors on my part! (if you wish to promote any other rivalry from the first part to the second, please feel free to express that in your comments).

In case you missed it, here is the the first part