We have an Old-Firm derby this weekend with Rangers hosting Celtic at Ibrox. These two rivals are neck and neck in the title race with just 5 games remaining.
Celtic currently lead the table by a point from Rangers who have 76 points. A win for Rangers will move them 2 points clear while a win for Celtic will move them 4 points clear of their arch-rivals.
How things change in a year?. Almost exactly a year ago Real Madrid played Barcelona at the Santiago Bernebeu having just sealed a 31st league title and strolled to a 4-1 win over the Catalans. But a year later Barcelona came to the same venue 4 points clear.
Gonzalo Higuaín, who scored in last year's game gave Real Madrid the perfect start on 13 minutes and Real were on course for the win. But Thierry Henry levelled on 17 minutes for Barcelona. Three minutes later Carles Puyol put Barcelona in front. That goal silenced the Bernebeu.
Lionel Messi made it 1-3 on 35 minutes as Barcelona were playing Real Madrid around the place. Real Madrid did get a lifeline however when Sergio Ramos scored on 55 minutes. But Thierry Henry made the most of defensive blunder by Real Madrid and poked the ball past the on rushing Iker Casillas to send Barcelona into a 2-4 lead. Lionel Messi then made it 2-5 when poking past Iker Casillas at the near post. There was time for Gerard Piqué to turn and shoot and score to make it 2-6 and also notch up a landmark. Piqué's goal was Barcelona's 100th La Liga goal this season and with 4 games left they have a chance to beat the record of 107 set by Real Madrid.
This Saturday Real Madrid host Barcelona in what should be one of the most exciting clásicos in years. This game has a history of deciding the title but this year Real Madrid come into the game 4 points behind Barcelona after 34 games in La Liga.
Real Madrid: A win for Real Madrid will put them within a point of their Catalan rivals but coach Juande Ramos who has been unbeaten in La Liga since these two last met in December, wants a performance against Barcelona. Guti is out with an injury while Arjen Robben has recovered from a Calf injury but whether he will be risked in this game is anybodies guess. Raúl who scored a hat-trick last week against Sevilla could start up front with Klaas Huntelaar with Gonzalo Higuaín moving out right.
Barcelona: Barcelona come into the game on the back of a 0-0 draw against Chelsea in the champions-league on Tuesday. Rafael Márquez is definetly out of the Clásico after injuring his meniscus in his knee on Tuesday. Martin Cáceres will be on the bench after a disappointing season while Carles Puyol may be partnered in defence by Gerard Piqué with Éric Abidal and Daniel Alves out in left and right back. Lionel Messi could start but with a champions league semi on Wednesday will Josep Guardiola risk some of his players?
It is Inter Milan who will be happy with this result as their 10 points cushion over Juventus remains intact.
Mario Balotelli gave Inter the lead on 64 minutes before Zdenek Grygera's last gasp equiliser meant a share of the spoils for both sides.
Juventus also had Tiago sent-off. Inter Milan are away to Napoli next Sunday while Juventus are away to Reggina also on Sunday.
The big Chile derby ended with Colo Colo taking the 3 points in a game that had violence and on field duals. Lucas Barrios helped himself to 2 goals on 13 and 34 minutes and Juan Olivera pulled one back for the hosts before Luis Figueroa made it 1-3 to Colo Colo.
Colo Colo move into 13th with 14 points from 13 games while Universidad de Chile remain 2nd 10 points off Unión Española
In Italy we have the top two facing off. Juventus v Inter Milan. Inter are currently 10 points clear of Juventus but a win for Juventus will close that to 7 points with 6 games left.
In Mexico the big two clubs face off in Guadalajara. Chivas v América the two biggest clubs in Mexico argubly. They face off on Sunday with both sides in Group 2 seperated by a point.
Chile has its biggest derby with Universtad de Chile hosting Colo Colo. The biggest rivalary in Chile and its on Sunday.
Monday saw Slavia face Sparta in a game that was to decide whether Sparta will catch Slavia. Sparta started well with Roman Hubnik giving them the lead on 35 minutes. But Slavia pressed and pressed and levelled the scores on 82 minutes with Petr Janda scoring the goal that could well have given Slavia the title.
Slavia remain top by 11 points from Sparta in 2nd with 6 games left.
In Spain the Basque derby between Osasuna and Athletic Bilbao finish with the home side winning 2-1.
In Argentina San Lorenzo lost at home to city rivals Vélez Sársfield. Hernan López with the only goal that moves Vélez Sársfield into 1st place ahead of Colón Santa Fe.
In England Preston hosted arch-rivals Blackpool with the away side winning thanks to Charlie Adam's winner on 43 minutes.
Al Ittihad are the champions of Saudi Arabia after beating Al Hilal 1-2 away. Naif Hazazi gave Al Ittihad the lead on 18 minutes to give Al Hilal a mountain to climb.
The home side did win a penalty on 50 minutes in which Romanian Mirel Radoi converted the level the scores at 1-1. But Al Ittihad scored what turned out to be the winner on 70 minutes when Hicham Aboucherouane scored.
So Al Ittihad top the league for 2008-09 with 55 points from the 22 games while Al Hilal finish 2nd with 50 points.
CSKA Moskva recored a big win over Moskva rivals Lokomotiv on Sunday. Alan Dzagoev gave CSKA the lead on 35 minutes and that was followed by Yuri Zhirkov making it 2-0 on 55 minutes. Lokomotiv were shocked and fell 3-0 behind when Alan Dzagoev got his 2nd of the day on 72 minutes.
Lokomotiv pulled a goal back on 78 minutes thanks to Marko Basa but CSKA made it 4-1 on 87 minutes when Ouwa Maazou found the Lokomotiv net.
CSKA move into 5th place with 7 points from 4 games while Lokomotiv slip to 9th with 5 points from 4 games.
A draw in the end but Linfield should've won. Paul Munster gave Linfield the lead with a goal on 51 minutes before they contiunued to pressurise the Glentoran defence.
Glentoran then shocked Linfield by rescuing a point thanks to Michael Halliday's 90th minute equiliser.
Glentoran face a trip to Crusaders on Tuesday night while Linfield travel to Coleraine also on Tuesday night.
Lazio stole the show on Saturday afternoon by beating arch-rivals Roma 4-2 in a game that saw 3 players sent-off.
Lazio took an early lead through Goran Pandev on 2 miniutes before Mauro Zaraté made it 2-0 just 2 minutes later. Philipe Mexès pulled a goal back for Roma on 10 minutes but Lazio continued to press and Stephen Lichtsteiner made it 3-1 on 58 minutes. Roma then had Christian Panucci sent-off before Lazio had Matuzalem sent-off for fighting with Philipe Mexès who was also sent-off. Daniele De Rossi made it 3-2 on 80 minutes to give Roma hope of a result. But Aleksandr Kolarov secured the points and erby win for Lazio with a goal on 85 minutes. Lazio win 4-2.
Lazio stay 9th after this result while Roma stay 6th.
The Los Angeles rivals played out a 0-0 draw in the MLS on Saturday. Chivas came into the game with a 100% win record after 3 MLS games but couldn't find a way past the Galaxy defence.
The SuperClásico result means Chivas USA top the MLS overall table with 10 points while Galaxy are only on 2 points from 3 games.
The derby also saw Greg Berhalter make his Galaxy debut having signed last week on a free transfer.
Not the result either side wanted as they continue to trail leaders Sivasspor but the match was marred by and one field brawl between both sets of players. Diego Lugano of Fenerbahce headbutted Emre Asik of Galatasaray and it resulted in a massive brawl in which 4 players were sent-off. Emre Asik and Arda Turan for Galatasaray and Diego Lugano and Semih Senturk for Fenerbahce. Both sides needed the win to put any sort of pressure on Sivasspor who are now 8 points clear of the two sides.
The biggest game in Turkey kicks off on Sunday evening and the venue will be on the European side of Istanbul in the Ali Sami Yen stadium which has seen some great derbies down the years. Galatasaray go into this game on the back of a narrow 1-0 win over Gaziantepspor last weekend while the week before they were shocked 1-0 by Eskisehirspor. Milan Baros should start while Harry Kewell has been in good form in the UEFA Cup campaign.
Fenerbahce meanwhile have not had a brillient run themselves wit just 1 win in the last three games. They beat Eskisehirspor 2-1 last weekend and lost to Bursaspor 2-1 the week before. Coach Luis Aragones is under serious pressure having fallen behind leaders Sivasspor and a derby win will ease that pressure. Daniel Guiza hasen't been anything like last season but could get a start if Alex is not avalable.
This weekend has some of the biggest derbies in Europe and the World on show. It is quiet a busy weekend of derbies across the world.
Where else to start but Rome where Lazio face Roma with Lazio having "home" advantage. Lazio go into this game having lost away to Siena last Sunday while Roma were 2-1 winner over Bologna also on Sunday.
In Turkey the big derby of the season sees Galatasaray "welcome" Fenerbahce to the Ali Sami Yen on Sunday night. This is one of the biggest derbies in the world for its passionate fans and this could decide who goes on to challenge for the title. Both sides are locked on 47 points each from 26 games.
In the Czech Republic the top 2 sides go head-to-head with Slavia Prague hosting arch-rivals Sparta Prague in a game that will decide weather Slavia will win the league. Slavia are 11 points clear of Sparta in 2nd and a defeat for Sparta could all but gurantee that Slavia will win the Czech Liga.
In the Rep of Ireland Bohemians host Dublin rivals St Patrick's on Saturday night. A big game for both sides Bohemians currently 2nd while St Patrick's are in 5th.
Northern Ireland see Glentoran host Linfield in the championship play-offs. That kicks-off on Friday night and the big rivals will be gunning for glory when the play-offs finish on May 2nd.
In Russia CSKA Moskva host Lokomotiv Moskva in a game that both sides need to win. CSKA are 3 points behind leaders Zenit St Petersburg while Lokomotiv are 2 points off the top.
In Sweden 2nd city v Capital city is on the agenda as IFK Göteborg host Djurgården. Both sides will be going for it on Saturday and this will be a though game to call.
In Saudi Arabia we have the two biggest clubs face each other on Saturday night as Al Hilal host Al Ittihad. A Title showdown this as Al Ittihad are just 2 points clear of Al Hilal in the table.
The Cypriot championship play-offs for the weekend concluded on Monday night with the top 2 facing off in the Capital. Omonia needed a win to close in on runaway leaders APOEL and got off to a good start when Rasheed Alabi scored on 8 minutes. The Omoia fateful dreamed of beating their arch-rivals but on 68 minutes APOEL levelled thanks to Christos Kontis. But Omonia let another slip as on 83 minutes Helio Pinto scored the winner.
Omonia are away to AEL Limassol next weekend while APOEL host Anorthosis Famagusta.
The minor Sofia derby ended with CSKA beating city rivals Slavia 2-1 with two penalties from Yordan Todorov.
It was Slavia who took a shock lead through Deniran Ortega on 13 minutes but CSKA aren't chasing the title for nothing and levelled thanks to Yordan Todorov's 1st penalty of the day on 22 minutes. Slavia were now being pegged back and on 76 minutes conceded a 2nd penalty which Todorov converted to give CSKA Sofia a 2-1 derby win and as it turns out the lead in the title race.
Arch-Rivals Levski could only draw away to Cherno More on Saturday and CSKA Sofia now lead by a point from Levski. Slavia are 6th with 30 points from 20 games.
CSKA Sofia are away to Minyor Pernik while Slavia host Spartak Varna.
The La Plata derby had its goals and excitment as both sides ended up with a controvsersial 1-1 draw.
Juan Cuevas had given Gimnasia the lead on 71 minutes but that would lead to controversy towards the end of the game. Gimnasia were crusing until 89 minutes when Estudiantes pushed Gimnasia back. Then 6 minutes into added time Cristian Sánchez Prette scored the equailiser that caused joy for Estudiantes and dispair for Gimnasia. Then both sides had a player sent off for violent conduct. Diego Villar for Gimnasia and Leondro Benítez f Estudiantes both seeing red.
The draw will be better for Gimnasia with them in 6th place with 12 points from 8 games. But Estudiantes needed a win and the draw leaves them in 19th with 6 points from 8 games.
Gimnasia are away to Godoy Cruz next weekend while Estudiantes host Boca Juniors!
The Domestic leagues resume this weekend after the Internationals and this means somewhere around the world there is a derby.
Where to start but Argentina. Forget your Buenos Aires derbies the La Plata derby takes place on Sunday evening with Gimnasia La Plata facing arch-rivals Estudiantes La Plata. The derby has a history of violence and expect a hostile atmosphere come Sunday.
There is a big title derby on show in Northern Ireland this weekend. Glentoran host Linfield. The destination of the title could be sorted tonight with both sides neck and neck in the title race. The play-offs begin this weekend and what a game to start off with.
Bulgaria we have a Sofia derby but the less derby. CSKA host Slavia and with CSKA a point behind Levski they need a win. Slavia are 6th.
Cyprus the Nicosia derby takes place with Omonia hosting APOEL. The 2nd round of matches in the play-off for the championship. That game takes place on Monday evening.
This weeks' derby spotlight shines on the Rome derby that is Lazio v Roma. A very competitive game and is one of the most eagerly anticipated games in the Serie A calendar. Games have been spoiled by violence off the pitch down the years and each team claiming to be better than the other.
Lazio hail from Rome's upper-class area while Roma are from the working-class area of Rome. The two sides ground-share, which is common in Italy. The Stadio Olimpico has seen some fantastic games through the years gone by.
The last 5 years or so have seen a massive decline for Lazio. The sky-blues have seen players bought for millions upon millions leave and nowadays have a strong-unit of players but compared to 2000 or 2001 the team have stuggled.
The Sven Goran-Eriksson era of the late 90s early 00s are a long time ago. Players like Gaizka Medieta, Alesandro Nesta and Pavel Nedved were all sold on cheaps having been bought for world record transfer fees. The current crop his headed by Mauro Zaraté, Goran Pandev and Simone Inzaghi.
Roma on the other-hand were playing 2nd fiddle to Lazio during that era but are now regularly playing in the Champions League. Roma made the quarter-finals in 2006-07 but lost heavily to Man United and again in 2007-08 they made the Quarter-Finals and lost to Man United. 2008-09 they made the Last 16 and lost to Arsenal on penalties.
The derby this season has seen Roma beat Lazio 1-0 back in November. The next derby is 11th April 2009.
At the moment Roma lead the head-to-head record with 58 wins and 59 draws to Lazio's 45 wins.
The game of the round in North America's final group stage saw Costa Rica host rivals El Salvador in San José.
Costa Rica though will be celebrating this win as they move up to 2nd behind the USA. A Hard-fought 1-0 win over a good El Salvador side means Costa Rica are moving in the right direction. Walter Centeno scored the only goal on 69 minutes that secured Costa Rica the win and give them confidence ahead of their next game against the USA on the 3rd of June.
Elsewhere Mexico suffered a 3-1 defeat in Honduras and the USA secured a 3-0 win over Trindad & Tobago in Nashville.
The Czech Republic suffered defeat to former allies Slovakia on Wednesday night. Petr Rada's men had been off the pace in the group before this match and needed a win to climb back into contention.
But Slovakia took the lead on 22 minutes through Stanislav Sestak. The Czechs levelled on 30 minutes when Marek Jankulovski hamered home. But Slovakia secured the win on 82 minutes thanks to a goal from Erik Jendrisek.
The defeat leaves the Czechs in 4th place with 8 points from 6 games. Slovakia meanwhile are 2nd with 12 points from 5 games and have 2 games in hand on Northern Ireland who are currently a point ahead of them.
The Korea derby ended in a 1-0 win for the South in what was a crucial win for them and their hopes of making it to South Africa next year.
The favourites had chances to win before the eventually got the goal they needed thanks to Kim-Chi-Woo who struck with just 4 miniutes left. South Korea manager Huh-Jong-Moo opted to start Park-Ji-sung and the Manchester United winger played well to give his nation the win over their Northern counterparts.
North Korea had their chances but ultimately failed to convert them and coach Kim-Jong-Huh will need points in June.
The win leaves Group 2 in Asia's fourth qualifying round wide open with South Korea top with 11 points from 5 games while North Korea and Saudi Arabia are in 2nd and 3rd with 10 points from 6 games. Iran are 4th with 6 points from 5 games and the UAE are 5th with a point from 6 games.
This weeks' Internationals feature a few derbies around the world. The biggest and standout one is the Korean derby as both South and North Korea do battle in Seoul.
The Korean derby has been very competitive in recent years and months with this the latest meeting. Both sides are in the running for the 2010 world cup finals and a win for either will make June that bit easier.
In Europe Czech Republic face Slovakia in a crucial match for both sides. Slovakia were thumped 5-0 by England on Saturday while the Czechs drew 0-0 away to Slovenia.
In the North American Hexagonal Costa Rica host rivals El Salvador. San José is the venue for this central American classic. Costa Rica are regulars at the World Cup finals while El Salvador have only recently started to make an impact on international competition.
Russia played poorly but still won 2-0 thanks to goals from Roman Pavlyuchenko and Konstantin Zyryanov.
The win lifts Russia in 2nd place with 9 points but 4 behind Germany who also won 4-0 against Liechtenstein.
Azerbaijan remain level at the bottom with Liechtenstein with a point from 4 games.
This week's derby backround is the Belgrade Ethernal derby. This derby is the biggest fixture in the Serbian SuperLiga. These games are always competitive whatever the matter of the game.
These two clubs hate each other. Patrizan Belgrade who play in black and white strips and have a firm. A group of hardcore fans who call themselves the Grobari. This translates as Gravediggers. Crvena Zvezda (Red Star) called themselves Delije.
The two clubs have played 135 games in domestic competition and Crvena Zvezda lead with 57 wins and 43 draws. Partizan have won 35 games.
The biggest win between the two was acheived in 1953 when Partizan blew Crvena Zvezda away with a 7-1 win. Crvena Zvezda's is a 6-1 win acheived in 1968.
Crvena Zvezda have a European Cup to their name and are the last Eastern European team to have lifted the trophy. This was won in 1991 and later that year they won the Intercontinental Cup but lost the European Super Cup. Crvena Zvezda have won a record 25 league championships and 22 national cups.
Partizan Belgrade were the 1st Eastern European club to play in a European final when in 1955 they lost to Real Madrid. Partizan are also the only Serbian club to have played in the Group Stage of the Champions League. This was acheived in 2003-04 when they knocked out Newcastle in the 3rd Qualifying round. Partizan have 20 league championship successes and 10 national cups.
The domestic league take a break this coming weekend to make way for the international fixtures to take place and there will be a few derbies around the globe in various regions of world cup qualifiers.
The stand-out derby in Europe sees Russia host Azerbaijan in a game that pits both former Soviet Union sides together. Russia will definetly be favourites but because it is Russia, Azerbaijan might want to treat the fans to something special. Azerbaijan have not beaten Russia since independence and it would be nice to beat them this Saturday.
Dynamo Kiev who just squeezed past Metalist in the UEFA cup on Thursday caped off a good week with a 3-0 derby win over Arsenal Kiev.
The derby was as good as won by half-tie with Dynamo 2-0 up after goals from Artem Kravets (21) and Alexandr Aliyev (35). It was Aliyev who got a third for Dynamo on 71 minutes to wrap up an easy victory and bragging rights for the Dynamo fans.
Dynamo restore their 8 points cushion from Shakhtar in 1st place while Arsenal stay 13th with 20 points and 7 clear of the relegation zone.
Dynamo are away to Metalurh Donetsk after the international break while Arsenal host FC Lviv
The Tashkent derby was the only Uzbek Oliy Liga played on Sunday and it ended with a 1-1 draw. The result Pakhtakor did not want means they are 5th with just 5 points from 3 games and trail title rivals Bunyodkor by 4 points.
Lokomotiv are 4th with 7 points and have their sights on finishing in the top 4 this year.
The big derby in Colombia on Sunday ended all square with Deportivo having taken the lead early in the 1st half before América fought back to get a point.
Danny Aguilar's 20th minute strike was cancelled out by Gustavo Ramos' 24 minute strike to end the derby in a draw.
The draw means Deportivo are now 7th with 14 points while América are 14th with 9 points so far after 9 games.
Both sides are in Cup action in midweek with Deportivo at home to Depor Aguablanca while América travel to Corporación Tuluá.
The Big Peru Classico ended with Alianza Lima suffering defeat to their bitter rivals Universitario on Sunday night.
Universitario's John Galliquio scored the winner on 52 minutes to give Universitario the bragging rights of Lima.
The result means Alianza slip to 7th with 10 points while Universitario move into 2nd with 13 points behind Juan Aurich.
Alianza Lima will now have to respond to this set back with San Martin Lima next up after the international break.
Universitario are at home to Sporting Cristal after the international break on April 5th.
Today the Uzbek Oily Liga sees Pakhtakor Tashkent at home against Lokomotiv Tashkent.
Pakhtakor are the more sucessful of the two sides regularly playing in the AFC champions league but will want the Tashkent bragging rights once again.
The Oily Liga is just 2 games into the season and already the derby to look forward to. Pakhtakor are currently 4th on 4 points and surprisingly Lokomotiv are 3rd with 6 points from their opening games.
The Dublin derby ended with Bohemians taking the spoils after two goals from Jason Bryne. A great game of football was witnessed at Dalymount Park for this big clash. And this game passed off largely without incident but there were a few little things goin on.
Shamrock Rovers playing in their strange pink jersey played some brillient football at times and hasd shouts for a penalty turned down.
But after 1 derby game it is Bohemians who win.
Sevilla v Real Betis:
I have come up with a derby backround for every week highlighting what ever derby around the world that comes to mind. So this week i have taught of the Sevilla v Real Betis derby.
This derby is proberly the most violent in Spain due to the passion of the fans from either side of the city. Sevilla are the most sucessful when it comes to European trophies such as the UEFA Super Cup and 2 UEFA Cups in the Juande Ramos era in 2006-07.
But Juande Ramos has managed both sides. He managed Real Betis from 2001-2004. But Ramos, now of Real Madrid isn't hated by Sevilla. His appointment as Sevilla boss in 2005 was a bit ify but he lead Sevilla to their greatest era in their history winning back-to-back UEFA Cups and a Super Cup.
Trophies:
Real Betis though have had some glory themselves. They have won La Liga once in 1935 and have 2 Copa Del Rey titles most recent was in 2005.
Sevilla meanwhile also have one La Liga title (1946) but have 4 Copa Del Rey successes with the most recent in 2007. A Spanish super Cup and the European cups they have won fill their cabinet.
Stadiums:
Sevilla play their home games in the Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán which holds around 45,500.
Real Betis play their home games at the Estadio Manuel Ruiz De Lopera which holds 51,309.
On Monday March 23rd 2009 Dynamo Kiev will host Kiev rivals Arsenal in what should be a big game for both sides.
Although not considered the biggest derby this game still offers the chance for both Kiev rivals to get bragging rights.
Dynamo Kiev currently top the Premier League with 52 points from 20 games and are 12 points clear of Shakhtar Donetsk. Arsenal on the other hand are 11th with 20 points from 19 games.
Showdown in Cali. América Cali will face Deportivo Cali this weekend. Deportivo have home advantage this time and both sides are at different ends in the table.
América Cali have had a disaserous start with just 8 points from 7 games and haven't won in the last6 league games.
Deportivo Cali meanwhile have won their last 3 league games and are currently 3rd a point behind current leaders Real Cartagena. The form is with Deportivo who start as favourites but as we all know the form book counts for nothing in the derby.
Peru will see its major derby this coming weekend with Alianza Lima hosting fierce local rivals Universitario Lima.
Violence has marred this derby ever since the 1st derby on September 23rd 1928. Both clubs have a passion to hate each other and the clubs hardcore fans often organise brawls after or before the games.
This will be the 322nd derby meeting and Alianza Lima are leading the way in the head-to-head table. Of the current 321 games played Alianza have won 120 and drawn 94 and scoring 437 goals. Universitario Lima have won 107 scoring 409 goals.
Both sides lost their last games last weekend with Universitario losing 1-0 to Inti Gas on Saturday while Alianza Lima were victims of a 3-1 home defeat to José Galvez on Sunday.
Both sides are level on points after 5 games of the season in Peru. Universitario are 3rd on goal difference with Alianza Lima 4th on goal difference. Both sides are currently a point behind Juan Aurich who have 11 points from 5 games.
The Zagreb derby took place today with Dinamo Zagreb beating NK Zagreb 4-1 in the HR Nogometni Cup semi-final 2nd leg. A 4-1 scoreline bought the aggergrate score to 6-1 and Dinamo will face arch-rivals Hajduk Split in the final.
Dinamo face Osijek in the league this weekend while their opponents face Hajduk Split away.
Two of Ireland most known clubs will battle it out at Dalymount Park on Friday March 20th 2009. Both sides currently have 4 points from the 1st 2 games of 2009 League of Ireland. But this fixture has a history of off-field riot which make it the most competitive fixture on the island. The Dublin Derby as it is called has seen pigs heads been thrown and heavy Gardaí patrols before during and after the games.
But history will count for nothing on derby day this Friday night. The fans will be up for this. All the form goes away as these two battle it out to be called Dublin's best side until the next derby.
