El Superclasico: History, when, where and all you need to know about River Plate v Boca Juniors

In terms of South American football, nothing is bigger than El Superclasico between the Buenos Aires rivals River Plate and Boca Juniors.

It is more than a game between two teams, with River being associated with the more affluent classes and Boca linked with the workers. There is so much at stake and both teams are desperate to get the upper hand whenever they meet.

Here is everything you need to know about what is the biggest match in the Southern Hemisphere. 

El Superclasico date

This season’s next meeting will take place on Saturday 21st September 2024.

The Argentinian league is organised into two divisions of 14 with each team playing the other 27 in a round-robin format.

El Superclasico location

When Boca Juniors do the entertaining, the game is played at the Alberto Jose Armando Stadium, which is also known as La Bombonera.

The latest meeting between the two rivals was hosted by River Plate across the city at the Estadio Mas Monumental in Buenos Aires.

How many times has El Superclasico taken place?

The rivals first played each other in 1913 and there have been 261 occasions when they have locked horns, with 215 coming in the Primera Division.

They have also met 28 times in South America’s premier club competition, the Copa Libertadores.

El Superclasico head-to-head record

Boca hold the upper hand in terms of the head-to-head record with 91 wins from the 260 games. River have won 86 while there have been 84 draws.

Of the 214 league meetings, Boca have won 78, while River have triumphed 71 times and the pair have shared the spoils on 66 occasions.

Of the 28 Copa Libertadores meetings, Boca have won 11, River nine and there have been eight draws.

Players who played for Boca Juniors and River Plate

There have been a number of players who have plied their trade with both clubs, including some of the biggest names in recent Argentinian football history.

Goalkeeper Hugo Gatti is one of the most iconic to have crossed the divide, even though there was an eight-year gap between the last of his 77 games for River Plate in 1968 and the first of his 381 appearances for Boca Juniors.

Alberto Tarantini, who was a member of the Argentina team that won the 1978 World Cup, played for both clubs, leaving Boca on bad terms just before that tournament and they convinced all other Argentinian teams not to sign him at the time, which meant he ended up playing in England for Birmingham City.

He returned for three seasons at River Plate in 1980 following a brief spell at Talleres de Cordoba.

Fellow Argentina World Cup stars Oscar Ruggeri and Julio Olarticoechea also featured for both clubs, as did their 1990 teammate Claudio Caniggia, who began his career at River Plate and had three seasons at Boca after leaving Benfica in 1995.

The best player to have a foot in both camps was star striker Gabriel Batistuta, although his achievements at either club were dwarfed by his scoring exploits for Fiorentina and Roma in Italy.

El Superclasico most appearances

Reinaldo Merlo holds the record for the most number of appearances in El Superclasico. He played his entire career at River Plate, featuring 526 times for the club as a defensive midfielder between 1969 and 1984.

He played in 42 El Superclasicos and also had two brief spells as manager of the club.

Gatti is next on the list with 38 appearances, the majority of which came in his 12-year spell playing for Boca between 1976 and 1988. He retired from playing at the age of 44 having made 761 appearances in a 26-year career.

The player who made the greatest number of El Superclasico appearances while representing only Boca was left-back Silvio Marzolini, who featured 37 times against River Plate between 1960 and 1972.  

El Superclasico record goalscorer

River Plate’s Angel Labruna, who is the second highest scorer in the history of the Argentinian top flight, has the greatest number of goals in El Superclasico with 16.

He scored 294 goals in 515 club appearances between 1939 and 1959, and also went on to coach the side between 1968 and 1970.

The second highest goalscorer in River Plate’s history is also second in the El Superclasico list, as Oscar Mas scored 12 goals in the fixture in two spells that were punctuated by a season at Real Madrid.

Boca’s top El Superclasico scorer is a Brazilian, Paulo Valentim, who netted 10 times against River between 1960 and 1965 when he scored 67 goals in 105 appearances for the club.    

This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.