Clássico Mineiro

AClássico Mineiro played at theEstádio Antônio Carlos in 1941.
Atlético Mineiro Cruzeiro
Other names	Superclássico Mineiro[1]
Location	Belo Horizonte,Minas Gerais,Brazil
First meeting	April 17, 1921 Friendly match Palestra Itália 3–0 Atlético
Latest meeting	25 January 2026 Campeonato Mineiro Atlético 2–1 Cruzeiro
Next meeting	TBD
Statistics
Most wins	Atlético Mineiro
Most player appearances	Fábio (65)
Top scorer	Guará (26)
Largest victory	Atlético Mineiro 9–2 Palestra Itália Campeonato Mineiro November 27, 1927

Atlético Mineiro

Cruzeiro

TheClássico Mineiro (English: Derby ofMinas Gerais;Mineiro is thegentilic for those born in Minas Gerais) is thefootball derby betweenAtlético Mineiro andCruzeiro, both teams fromBelo Horizonte,Brazil. It is one of the fiercest rivalries in Brazilian and South American football.^[2]

The two clubs practically monopolize theCampeonato Mineiro, and have clashed in decisive matches in theBrasileirão,Copa do Brasil and continentalCONMEBOL competitions of.

Atlético was founded in the early years of the 20th Century, on March 25, 1908.Cruzeiro was founded 13 years later, on January 2, 1921, among theBelo Horizonte's Italian community, asPalestra Itália. In 1942, due to the enmity between Brazil and Italy in theWorld War II, Palestra had to change its name to Cruzeiro.

The first derby took place on April 17, 1921, with the newcomer Palestra winning 3–0. The first official match between the two was won by Atlético, by 2–1, on May 15, 1921.

Atlético Mineiro's largest win in the history of theClássico Mineiro was on November 27, 1927, in aCampeonato Mineiro match.Galo, which was undefeated that season, thrashed Palestra Itália9–2 and secured its third Championship title.^[3]

In the 1931Campeonato Mineiro, both Atlético and Palestra finished the competition at the top of the table, tied on points. Thus, according to the rules of the championship, atie-breaking final was necessary, the first one in the history of the fixture. On November 29, Atlético won the first leg 2–1 atPalestra's stadium. The second leg, which would take place on December 6 atAtlético's stadium, less than 1 mile away from their rival's, did not happen. Atlético had not hired a referee fromRio de Janeiro, as it had been agreed, then gave a list to Palestra with three others from Minas Gerais, which the Italians refused. In addition to that, the preliminary match between their reserve teams had already ended in a fight. The Federation tried to reschedule the match, but Palestra Itália left the entity, which ended up proclaimingGalo the champions. As a result of this conflict, in 1932, there were two different championships in Minas Gerais, organized by different associations.^[4][5]

In the finals of the 1956 Campeonato Mineiro, after an 1–1 in the first match and a 0–0 in the second, Atlético won the third match 1–0 and won the championship for the fifth time in a row. However, before the last game, Cruzeiro claimed that Atlético had irregularly called in the player Laércio in the second match. Only in 1959, the Superior Court of Sport Justice (STJD) gave the points of the second match to Cruzeiro, legitimizing the club's claim. As the finals were now tied and the clubs were against the idea of scheduling a fourth match, theFederation proclaimed both Atlético and Cruzeiro the champions.^[6]

The first derby outside ofMinas Gerais took place on June 16, 1960, in a friendly match at the Israel Pinheiro Stadium inBrasília, Brazil's recentely founded capital. The clubs were invited to celebrate the peace between the two, by the presidentJuscelino Kubitschek, born in Minas Gerais and a Cruzeiro fan.^[7] This was the onlyClássico outside Minas Gerais in Brazil's territory, which ended in a 2–2 draw.^[8]

TheEstádio Governardor Magalhães Pinto, better known asMineirão, opened on September 5, 1965, and became the home ground of both teams for decades. The first derby at the stadium took place on October 24, 1965, for the Campeonato Mineiro. In the 79th minute of the match, when Cruzeiro was winning 1–0 with a goal fromTostão, the referee Juan de La Passion Artéz rewarded a penalty to theRaposa. Atlético's players were outraged with the signaling and some of them fought with the referee and the police.Galo's coach and more nine players were sent off. The referee ended the match with a Cruzeiro win in theClássico.^[9][10]

The beginning of the "Mineirão Era" coincided with a period of dominance by Cruzeiro. With a richly talented team comprisingRaul,Piazza,Dirceu Lopes,Natal andTostão, the Foxes won the1966 Campeonato Brasileiro and five successive state titles from 1965 to 1969, as Atlético were the runners-up on four occasions.^[2]

The firstCampeonato Brasileiro match between the two ended in a 4–0 win for Cruzeiro on March 5,1967, with an attendance of 91,042 people atMineirão.^[11]

By the mid-70s and 80s, Atlético Mineiro established an impressive cast of players of their own, withJoão Leite,Luizinho,Cerezo,Paulo Isidoro,Nelinho,Éder andReinaldo making them one of the most revered forces in Brazilian football. During this period, they consistently outstripped Cruzeiro in their matches and won the Campeonato Mineiro 11 times in 14 seasons along the way.^[2]

In the quarterfinals of the1986 Campeonato Brasileiro, Atlético and Cruzeiro faced each other for the first time in the knock-out stage of a national tournament.Galo advenced after two draws, in 0–0 and 1–1, since the team with the better campaign had the advantadge in case of a tie.

The1993 Copa de Oro reunited the champions ofCONMEBOL competitions in 1992. Atlético, as the champions of theCopa Conmebol, and Cruzeiro, as the champions of theSupercopa Libertadores, faced each other in the semi-finals, in a single match atMineirão. After a 0–0 draw, Atlético advanced to the finals after winning 5–4 on penalties.

TheClássico took place in the quarterfinals of the Campeonato Brasileiro again in1999, after Atlético finished 7th and Cruzeiro 2nd in the first stage. Atlético won the first match 4–2 and the second one 3–2. The topscorer of the championship,Guilherme, scored 4 goals against Cruzeiro andGalo advanced to the semi-finals.^[12]

Cruzeiro's largest win in theClássico Mineiro was on December 4, 2011, in the last round of theCampeonato Brasileiro. The Foxes could be relegated for the first time if they lost the derby, but thrashed Atlético 6–1 at theArena do Jacaré.^[13]

After Atlético winning the2013 Copa Libertadores and the2014 Recopa Sudamericana, and Cruzeiro winning theCampeonato Brasileiro in2013 and2014, both rivals made to the finals of the2014 Copa do Brasil. This was the first time a national level tournament final featured both Belo Horizonte clubs. The first game took place at theArena Independência and Atlético won 2–0. In the second match, Cruzeiro was the home team atMineirão andGalo won again, by 1–0, being crowned champions of the competition for the first time.

TheSuperclássico Mineiro took place in theCopa do Brasil again in2019, this time, in the quarterfinals. Cruzeiro won the first leg 3–0 at Mineirão and lost the second leg 2–0 at Independência, thus winning 3–2 on aggregate and advancing to the semi-finals.

The derby has already taken place outside Brazil twice. The first encounter was on January 17, 2009, for the semi-finals of the Uruguayan friendly tournamentCopa Bimbo, in which Cruzeiro won 4–2 at the famousEstadio Centenário.^[14] The second match was on January 18, 2025, for the first round of the FC Series, at theOrlando City Stadium, in the United States. The match ended in a 0–0 draw and 22,743 people attended it.^[15]

TheMineirão Stadium seen from thePampulha Lake

Atlético supporters at the old Mineirão

Cruzeiro supporters at the old Mineirão

The rivalry between the fanbases of Atlético and Cruzeiro is considered one of the most heated of Brazilian football and is seen in numerous provocative flags,tifos, chants and player celebrations towards the opposing side on derby days,^[16][17] in addition to cases of violent conflicts between groups of supporters.^[18] Regarding to nicknames, Atlético fans refer to Cruzeiro supporters as"marias", a play on the name of their rivals' mainTorcida organizada,Máfia Azul (Blue Mafia). Meanwhile, Cruzeiro fans call their rivals"frangas" (chickens), mocking Atlético's mascot, therooster.^[19]

From 1965 to 2010, almost every derby between Atlético Mineiro and Cruzeiro took place atMineirão, with the fans splitting the stadium in half. Cruzeiro supporters took the "city side", to the right of the press tribunes, while Atlético supporters occupied the "lake side", to the left. These names are a reference to thePampulha Lake, next to the stadium.^[20] It also gave rise to the term "the other side of the lake" commonly used by fans to refer to their rivals.^[21]

Both fanbases claim to be the biggest one in Minas Gerais and the people's club of the state. On Atlético Mineiro's side, the club opened its doors to players from every social class, nationality or ethnicity from an early age, earning a status of a popular club. As a result of this vast popular support, the fans came to be collectively known as"A Massa" (The Mass).^[22] On Cruzeiro's side, the club was founded as the representative of the Italian colony of Belo Horizonte, and stood out for having a strong participation from the working class of the community, unlike Atlético andAmérica, which were founded by upper-class students.^[23] Alluding to that, in 2015, Cruzeiro's marketing started using the "people's club" slogan, to which Atlético respodend in the same year, claiming to be the "true people's club".^[24]

According to a 2014 Datafolha survey, reproduced by Globoesporte.com, the results are these:

• Atlético: 2% (4.1 million people).
• Cruzeiro: 3% (6.1 million people).

Source:Datafolha

According to a 2014 survey byIBOPE, reproduced by Globoesporte.com, the results are these:

• Atlético: 3.5% (7.1 million people).
• Cruzeiro: 3.1% (6.3 million people).

Source:Ibope

According to a 2023 survey by AtlasIntel, the results are these:

• Atlético: 4.3% of supporters.
• Cruzeiro: 6.1% of supporters.

Source:AtlasIntel

According to a 2024 survey by Quaest, demanded byCNN Brazil and the Itatiaia radio network, the results are these:

• Atlético: 4% of supporters.
• Cruzeiro: 4% of supporters.

Source:Quaest

Atlético Mineiro and Cruzeiro have their own different versions of the statistics of the fixture. From the first derby on April 17, 1921, to the mid-1940s, there was no practice of registering the data and results of the games in an official summary. Atlético counts all the times the teams went to the playing field and faced each other. Cruzeiro says it does not consider games in which one of them played with theirreserve team ("time de aspirantes"). Interestingly, however, there are matches that entered Cruzeiro's accounts that do not appear in Atlético's records.^[25][26]

The following statistics are taking into account Cruzeiro's version of the fixture.

Source:Superesportes

• The player with most appearances in theClássico for Cruzeiro isFábio, with 65 matches.
• The player with most appearances in theClássico for Atlético isJoão Leite, with 57 matches.
• Nelinho is the second player with most appearances in theClássico, with 37 matches for Cruzeiro and 27 for Atlético.

Source:O Tempo

FromAtlético Mineiro:

FromCruzeiro:

Sources:CruzeiropédiaSuperesportes

Source:Globoesporte.com

Source:A história do Clássico Mineiro

Since 2003, when theCampeonato Brasileiro adopted theround-robin system, one of the teams has beaten their rivals in both matches 7 times. The results are arranged based on the order in which the matches were played, from left to right.

•Total: Cruzeiro 13 times higher, Atlético 10 times higher.

List of the 20 largest attendances in the history of the Clássico Mineiro.^[31]

Notes

• ^s = shared title
• ^TDC =Torneio dos Campeões (1937), recognized byCBF as the first Brazilian national championship on August 2023.^[32]
• ^TB =Taça Brasil (1959–1968), recognized byCBF as Brazilian national championships on December 2010.^[33]