For the last five years, Copa90 have been making films about the biggest derbies in the world. Now for the biggest

The two biggest football clubs in Argentina? The fiercest rivalry in South America? The best derby in the world? Every superlative was used to describe the first ever Superclásico final in the Copa Libertadores. As the eyes of the world turned towards Buenos Aires, our team of filmmakers set off to experience the “final to end all finals” first hand. Everyone expects controversy from this fixture, but no one could have predicted what happened between these two teams over two legs in two continents.

First off, Boca’s home tie at La Bombonera. After a biblical rainstorm led to a 24-hour delay, the football gods finally gave the fans the moment they had been waiting for all their lives on Sunday 11 November. The first of the two ties ended in a thrilling 2-2 draw. The away goals rule was not in play, so the tie was perfectly poised before the second leg.

River Plate claim Copa Libertadores against 10-man Boca with Quintero goal Read more

Time for round two at River’s stadium, El Monumental. The passion in the build-up to the match was reaching unprecedented levels. Then, violence struck. An attack on the Boca team bus robbed River fans of their party. The game was delayed, then moved to the next day, then temporarily suspended.

Meetings between the football authorities and the club presidents resulted in a farcical decision: the final game of 2018’s Copa Libertadores de América – which was named after people who fought to liberate South America from colonial rule – was to be played in Madrid, the capital of the country that once conquered large parts of the continent.

So, on 9 December, 698 hours after the first leg was due to be played at La Bombonera, the final whistle was blown in the Santiago Bernabéu and River Plate were the champions of South America. This momentous episode of Derby Days, which had started to feel more like Derby Weeks, had reached a conclusion. Having needed extra time to break the deadlock, River had won 3-1 . They were continental champions.

How will this unique Copa Libertadores clash be remembered? Was this derby, played so far away from where the rivalry began 110 years ago, really “the final to end all finals”? Hopefully we will be given another Superclásico final in the future and that one will be played in the city where it belongs: Buenos Aires, where it more than just another clásico, and where the passion of the fans truly makes it feel like the best derby in the world. This derby doesn’t end here.