Written by Matteo Ciaramella
Milan vs. Inter; Roma vs. Lazio; Juventus vs. Torino. These games are the most anticipated and popular rivalries in Italian football. After all, big clubs clashing to decide entire league outcomes is a spectacle everyone wants to see. All of the media attention is on them, but many forget other historic rivalries that are just as fascinating. Case in point, Atalanta-Brescia.
Atalanta-Brescia pits the cities of Bergamo and Brescia against each other. It may not be a real derby by definition, may not have a big influence on Italian and world football, and few noteworthy names have appeared in this matchup, but the hatred, feuds, and land disputes between two proud, similar, industrial, blue-collar cities cannot go unnoticed. This is the Derby Lombardo.
As it often happens in Italian rivalries, we begin our story hundreds and hundred of years ago, 896 to be exact. In 1126, due to an economic crisis, Brescia put some strategic territories up for sale. At the prospect of a military and territorial advantage, the city of Bergamo bought the territories, and everyone thought that was that. The people of Brescia, however, heavily opposed this decision, and occupied the territories. Squabbling followed until 1154, until Frederick I – the Roman Emperor at that point – returned the land to Brescia, putting an end to the bickers and quarrels. What Frederick I couldn’t put an end to, unfortunately, was the rivalry that formed, which two years later ignited an official war over this land dispute. Ultimately, Brescia won and got to keep its territories, inflicting more than 2500 casualties on Bergamo. Another bloody war in 1191 only agitated what was already fervent animosity between the two cities, with Brescia coming out on top again. New Roman Emperor Henry VI attempted to divide and distribute land equally, but it all resulted in new battles and brawls.
Eventually, the fighting stopped, but the rivalry was set in stone forever. Nowadays, the two cities live to outdo each other in everything, being the two agricultural and manufacturing hubs of the Lombardy region, as well as the entirety of Northern Italy. The cities’ similar geographical features led to them developing competing, rather than complementing economies, and are thus as rivals now as they were in the middle ages. This is a real case of campanilismo, an Italian phenomenon that can only be explained as a feeling of superiority and extreme devotion to your native land that goes hand in hand with a strong dislike for surrounding areas.
So you see that this rivalry goes a lot further than football. The sport is merely a way to see these differences clash in a tangible, visual manner.
Over the years, supporters on both sides have come up with creative insults to add fuel to the fire. While the Atalanta side calls Brescians sunì (pigs), the Brescia supporters respond with conèc (rabbits). There have even been episodes where fans released both pigs and rabbits onto the field. For example, during a derby in the 1930s, the Brescia supporters released hundreds of rabbits to taunt the Atalanta players and fans, stalling the game. In another episode, in 1993, some Atalanta supporters stole a banner from their opponents and waved it proudly to get under Brescia’s skin. Needless to say, that derby ended with numerous brawls, and after police intervention, the arrest tally counted 5, while 20 people had to be sent to the hospital.
Despite these interesting episodes, however, it is the 2001 derby that will go down as the most famous game in the history of this rivalry. From the first minutes of this contest, Brescia manager Carlo Mazzone received abuse from Atalanta supporters, as the Bergamo team ended the first half with a 3-1 lead. When Brescia scored their second goal, Mazzone lost all composure and promised the Atalanta fans that he would sprint over to their sector when Brescia would inevitably equalize. A few minutes later, Roberto Baggio completed his hat-trick and got the score to 3-3. Mazzone didn’t think twice and charged towards the Atalanta fans like a bull, with a touchline run that to this day is ingrained in Italian football history. The manager celebrated in Atalanta supporters’ faces, getting himself sent off, which he accepted gracefully. In the following derby, Atalanta supporters waved small banners that contained a picture of Mazzone, coupled with the words: “I cannot enter the city of Bergamo”.
The thing that is most interesting to me about this is that while Carlo Mazzone coached Brescia at the time, he was not from the city. The man hailed from the far-away lands of Rome, and despite that, the intensity of the rivalry got through to him exceptionally well. This just goes to show the importance of this match-up, and what an incredibly rich atmosphere it holds.
Nowadays, Atalanta and Brescia are in two very different positions. The former has become a true top club in Italy, consistently challenging for Champions League football, while the latter is a sort of a yo-yo club, bouncing between Serie A and Serie B. There is a clear quality divide that we did not have 20 or 30 years ago, and although this might make the derby less frequent, it is perhaps the wait and anticipation that will add even more excitement to an already magnificent rivalry.
References
https://www.ilprimatonazionale.it/sport/atalanta-brescia-derby-lungo-900-anni-215746/: Atalanta-Brescia, the Derby Lombardohttps://unaparolaalgiorno.it/significato/campanilismo
https://finanza.primeconsult.it/rivalita-bergamo-brescia-le-ragioni-storiche-dello-scontro/https://www.pokerstarsnews.it/news/atalanta-vs-brescia/7130/ : Atalanta-Brescia, the Derby Lombardo
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