What makes a derby a derby, is a great love for your club and hatred for the greatest rival, are the two most important reasons why the derby is special. In order for a football derby to be big, it is necessary to have an equal reputation for two clubs, a similar number of fans, an uncertain race in all competitions and naturally different colors of the club.

Football is itself a pure emotion, but there is a period when what we feel about the twenty-two men chasing the ball, can not be measured or compared with anything.

The mentioned period can often vary with intensity and length, from several days to several weeks but it is still easy to determine that the epicenter of "madness" stays somewhere between 90 and 120 minutes, excluding a potential penal series.Then everything that really matters and essentially becomes absolutely irrelevant, and your thoughts and all the types of energy you give are focused on just one thing. That your beloved team records victory over the biggest, eternal rival.

What is morally, becomes immoral - then the way and means are not chosen in order to reach the goal. Then it is only important that your team, after the last referee whistle, raise your arms above your head, while you are thrown in the trance and rejoice with the people you have seen for the first time in your life. The game that has the power to divide cities into half, the eternal rivalries that turn the brothers and great friends into the hot rivals, but at the same time they provide us with unique experience and luck, as well as valuable, unforgettable memories.

We only have few of these kind of games in the world, so I bring you next two for this seventh edition of Greatest Football Derbies in the World series.

                                 Borussia Dortmund - Schalke 04

The Ruhr region in the western part of Germany is very important for the country itself, its history and, above all, the economy, but when its name is mentioned to the average football fan, its reflex reaction will be match between Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04. BVB is stationed in Dortmund, located in the central part of the region and is valid for the administrative, commercial and cultural center. Not far north of Dortmund is Gelsenkirchen, the most important mining area of Europe of the twentieth century, and in it and the home of popular "Miners".

Their first encounter was been in 1925 and BVB won 3: 2. There was a total of 146 games, with 57 wins of Schalke and 49 games where BVB win.

Schalke gets nickname from the old German word "Die Knappen" meaning "miners", when most of the team members and fans seemed to be employed in the mine. The name Borussia is already rooting in the Latin word for Prussia, but its founders say that the club was named after the local brewery.

Schalke first wore red-yellow jerseys, which, again, with the arrival of the Nazis changed to royal blue and white, the first colors of the Westfalen team. Today, therefore, they are more often called 'Kenigsblauen' by the colors of the jerseys.

BVB has one title more (8) but also two Cups less. However, Borussia fans can boast that their team won both the biggest UEFA competitions, while "Miners" lack the Champions League title.

                                    Sporting Lisbon - Benfica

Although Sporting haven't recorded some big results in recent years, nothing can cause even so much attention of the citizens of Lisbon as the collision between Lions and Eagles - Sporting and Benfica.

Believe it or not, again a handful of those dissatisfied directly influenced the creation of the greatest sports rivalry of a city and country. It was in 1907, when eight Benfica players decided to move to Sporting, all of which only took place just a few days before their premiere.

The Portuguese giants are approaching their 300th jubilee meeting, and in the 297 meetings Benika has been successful with 128 wins, compared to 108 Sporting's. Calculating both friendly and other unofficial matches, the Lisboa giants met a total of 417 times, which places them at the top of the list of eternal rivalries.

What is also specific to their encounters is the fact that the very existence of one and the other on the football scene makes the parts of the city separate from those in which the supporters of Benfica and Sporting live.

Benfica has convincingly the most sympathizers in Portugal, Sporting follows immediately, while Porto popularity, especially in the last ten years, is significantly increasing. More precisely, 47% of Portugal support "Eagles", 30 'Lions' and 'Dragons' slightly less than 20%.

As for the atmosphere itself - it is not partially flammable in the streets or in the city itself, as much as in stands. Both teams have several teams that consider themselves to be "ultras", there are almost no major physical conflicts in history - but there are massive flares, great choreographies and inevitable calling of others.

This is the seventh article of Greatest Football Derbies in the World series. I'll bring you more of extreme worlds rivalries in upcoming articles. Hope that, this was interesting for you. Thanks for reading.

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