Derby Week: A Swiss classic with added fire after an attack on Zurich players
That is why it has been nicknamed the Swiss Classic (Schweizer Klassiker). The mutual resentment between the two clubs and their fans was sparked by an incident in 2006 when the two rivals fought each other in the last round of the season in a direct battle for the title.
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland. With all its suburbs, the population exceeds 1.2 million. Geneva is second and Basel, just 80 kilometres northwest of Zurich, third. The list of the most populous cities in Switzerland corresponds to the strongest football clubs there.
Historically, the most successful is Grasshoppers Zurich (29 titles). The protagonists of the Swiss Classics are second (Basel, 20) and fifth (FC Zurich, 13) respectively.
Barcelona and its Swiss inspiration
Both are very traditional clubs. Their history dates back to the 1890s and it is certainly interesting. Zurich Football Club was formed by the merger of two other clubs in the city at the time. A member of one of them, and thus one of the founders of FC Zurich, was Hans-Max Gamper.
He was both a player and a coach in the team. However, in 1898, he was transferred abroad by his employer, the French bank Credit Lyonnais, and had to leave FC Zurich.
He headed to Barcelona where, once he had settled down a bit, he founded another football club - FC Barcelona. In 1899, he initiated the creation of the famous Catalan colossus by placing an advertisement in the newspapers announcing that he wanted to start a football team and that interested parties should come to the Sole Gymnasium in a week.
On October 29th, a group of sports enthusiasts - several Swiss, British and native Catalans - gathered there.
Red and blue were chosen as the colours of the jerseys at the very beginning of FC Barcelona's existence. Gamper, who has since become so entrenched in the city that he is better known as Joan Gamper, may well have taken inspiration for this colour combination from his old friends in Basel.
The jerseys of the football club are also traditionally red and blue, and have been since its inception in 1893. Gamper was inspired to create a football team in his new home by the Basel club itself.
It was also, in fact, inspired by a newspaper advertisement. On November 12th 1893, Roland Geldner, a Basel businessman and prominent figure in the city at the time, placed an appeal in the local Basler Zeitung for those interested in football to come to the Schuhmachern-Zunft restaurant in three days.
The meeting was attended by 11 men, most of them students and they were witnessing the birth of FC Basel.
Fighting for the title on the field and in the stands
FC Basel and FC Zurich have not been big rivals for a long time. However, the relationship between the two clubs, their fans and the city as a whole changed significantly in 2006. In the last match of the league season, they faced each other. Basel wanted to complete their championship hat-trick, having won the title in 2004/05 and the previous season.
And with FC Zurich leading the 2005/06 table by three points ahead of the final match, all they needed to win the title was to avoid losing at home to St. Jakob-Park.
After the first half, the visitors were in the lead and Basel were in contention to steal the title away. However, Mladen Petric equalised for the home side in the 72nd minute. A competitive game with lots of fouls on both sides but, otherwise, not a thriller. It looked like it was heading towards a draw and the Red and Blue's third title in a row.
As they entered the moments of the final three minutes, FC Zurich had a free-kick from the right wing. One of the midfielders quickly sent the ball into the box but it was headed away.
The defence failed to kick the ball away though and the ball fell to Zurich defender Iulian Filipescu. One-on-one with the keeper, he scored his only goal of the season. The referee ended the game immediately after the goal and the Zurich team and fans began to celebrate madly.
They won the title with a goal at the very end of the game. Moreover, they had been waiting for a league championship since 1981 - after more than a quarter of a century.
Seconds after the final whistle, dozens of Basel supporters stormed the pitch and began attacking jubilant FC Zurich players and officials who tried to flee to the dressing rooms. The main target of the frustrated home team was Filipescu, the scorer of the unexpected decisive goal.
On the other side of the stadium, Zurich fans jumped onto the pitch in euphoria. The police quickly formed a buffer zone between the two rioting groups in the middle of the pitch.
The ceremony and trophy presentation took place in the stands instead of on the pitch as riot police continued to deal with the aggression of the home hooligans. Clashes continued after the match outside the stadium and lasted until late into the night.
Police deployed water cannons and rubber bullets. The incident left 115 injured, with many fans also ending up in jail. The incident left scars in the relationship between the two clubs, probably forever. Since then, the Swiss Classic has been one of the riskiest matches in all of Europe.
Basel would go on to have a glorious era in its history, winning eight titles in a row between 2010 and 2017. Recently, however, FC Zurich's players have been more successful. They are the current defending champions and are higher than FC Basel this season too, sitting in third place.
The Swiss classic is back this weekend after the last meeting ended in a 2-2 draw.
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Next derby of the week
Wednesday, January 17th
Israel - Ligat ha'Al
Maccabi Tel Aviv - Hapoel Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv derby (Tel Aviv derby)
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Greece - Kypello Elladas (Cup)
Olympiakos Piraeus - Panathinaikos
This is the derby of the eternal enemies. Greece's two biggest clubs (Olympiakos has won 47 titles, Panathinaikos has 20), and Athens' two biggest rivals, face off for the third time this season. This derby is a rematch of the Greek Cup semi-finals. The first match a week ago ended in a 1-1 draw.
Thursday, January 18th
Spain - Copa del Rey (Cup)
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Saturday, January 20th
Brazil - Campeonato Penambucano (National league)
Sport Club do Recife - Santa Cruz
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Germany - Bundesliga
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