“Ever since the Observer Sport Monthly published a list of 50 sporting things you must do before you die with Watch Boca Juniors Play River Plate in Buenos Aires at No 1 in 2004, the biggest super derby in Argentina has been firmly positioned in the global imagination; its reputation for colour, passion and uncontainable emotion acquiring an almost glamorous sheen. The thump and thud of the coordinated chants, the shiny ticker-tape amid flare smoke matching the teams’ strips, the bounce of the concrete as tens of thousands jump in unison, mounted police surrounding the stadium, avalanche stoppers set alight, rockets aimed at players; blood and fire. Exciting, right? Things have changed, though, and Sunday at La Bombonera (Boca’s stadium known as the Chocolate Box) was quite a different spectacle. Since 2013 football matches in Argentina have been played without visiting fans, so for starters the colour palette has been greatly reduced. …”
Guardian