Three To See – Easter Weekend’s Football (11.4.2009 – 13.4.2009) – Lazio, Galatasaray, Flamengo

Last weekend we highlighted games in England, Wales and Holland for our ‘Three to See’ feature on Just Football. This weekend three of the world game’s biggest derbies take place. Here they are:

1, Lazio vs AS Roma (Italian Serie A) 14.00 GMT, Saturday 11th April 2009

Lazio vs Roma is a massive game in Italian football. One of the biggest around. Il Derby Capitolino is a fixture that embodies the hatred both Rome clubs feel for each other. Class, politics and good old fashioned Roman pride all come into it when these two meet, not to mention a long running feud between the two sets of ultras who see each game as a chance to renew old hostilities off the pitch.

Having said all that however, this game will be different. In the wake of recent tragic events in L’Aquila many people feel the Rome derby should not even be taking place this weekend. Roma manager Luciano Spalletti was one of them.
‘Everyone has been affected by this tragedy and I don’t understand why Serie A hasn’t been stopped,’ lamented the Giallorossi coach. His sentiments have been echoed by many still raw with emotion in light of the earthquake. L’Aquila lies just 95 kilometres north-east of Rome.

Lazio are not the same force they once were under Sven Goran Eriksson, and currently sit ninth in Serie A. If they could beat Roma and gain revenge for their 1-0 defeat in the corresponding fixture earlier in the season it would be a highlight of the season for Delio Rossi’s men. Particularly as it would be a hammer blow to Spalletti’s chances of guiding Roma into next season’s Champions League.

Roma lie in sixth after a disappointing league campaign, and need to win if they want to catch Genoa for that fourth spot.

2, Galatasaray vs Fenerbahçe (Turkish Superliga) 17.00 GMT, Sunday 12th April 2009

Is there any other country in world football with fans as crazed as in Turkey? The famous ‘Welcome to Hell’ banner unveiled by Galatasaray supporters to greet Manchester United fans often springs to memory when one considers Turkish fanaticism, and it is fair to say that the partisan nature of crowds in Turkey helps create an exhilarating, and sometimes intimidating, atmosphere inside stadia across the land.

The biggest of all Turkish Superliga games takes place this weekend, when champions Galatasaray take on Luis Aragones’ Fenerbahçe in the battle of the Bosphorous. Galatasaray will be looking to avenge a humiliating 4-1 defeat suffered in the reverse fixture at Fenerbahçe’s Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, but really no incentive is needed for either side in this fixture, so historic is the rivalry. With both sides amongst the hunting pack chasing for the league title also, it promises to be another classic.

Galatasaray’s Milan Baros is having a good time of things so far during his first season at the club. He is the league’s top scorer at present with 18 goals and will be the man for Fener’s defence to keep quiet if they are to claim three crucial points. Brazilian Alex is Fenerbahçe’s top scorer with 10 league goals himself, but is expected to play no part in this game because of a calf injury. Daniel Guiza was phenomenal at Real Mallorca last season in Spain, but has not quite set the world alight in Turkey so far.

The two sides are currently level on points at present, joint third and fourth in the league. As always, expect fireworks. Literally in fact. Pyrotechnics are often part of the specracle in Turkish football matches of this magnitude.

3, Flamengo vs Fluminense (Taça Rio Semi-Final) 20.00 GMT, Sunday 12th April 2009

Cross-town Rio da Janeiro rivals Flamengo and Fluminense renew acquaintances once agains this weekend as they go head-to-head in the semi finals of the Taça Rio, or Rio Cup.

The ‘Fla-Flu’ derby, as it is referred to in Brazil, brings together two of the country’s most prestigious clubs, as well as the two most successful sides in Rio state championship history. Both have triumphed 30 times. This gives Sunday’s game added significance, as the winner will go through to the final, where they will battle for the chance to be crowned Rio’s outright most successful team.

The sheer magnitude of this game in terms of support bases for the two can be summed up by a glance at attendance figu
res for the Fla-Flu derby over history. In December 1963 for example, 194,603 spectators packed out the world famous Maracana stadium for the game. Unfortunately for those present it ended 0-0! Crowds of over 100,000 were common before the ground’s renovation brought it’s capacity down.

Carlos Alberto Parreira has breathed new life into Fluminense after they were nearly relegated from Brazil’s Serie A last season. A Flu supporter and idolised by the club’s fans, Parreira has won two league titles for Fluminense, one being the Third Division trophy. The shrewd tactician considers that his favourite ever trophy, moreso than his 1994 World Cup win with Brazil, because of the way the triumph rejuvenated the club at a time when they faced extinction.

Fla-Flu is seen as one of the biggest, if not the biggest derby in Brazilian football. With a place in the Taça Rio final also at stake it should be a hotly-contested affair once again at the Maracana on Sunday.

AS Roma, Brazilian Football, Fenerbahce, Flamengo, Fluminense, Galatasaray, Italian Serie A, Lazio, Three to See