Clásico Regiomontano

Clásico Regiomontano is a football derby in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, between crosstown rival teams Monterrey and Tigres.

Since the first Clásico in 1974, the two teams have competed 101 times for bragging rights and city honour.^[1] The match is the biggest game of the season in Monterrey, and every year fans wait in line for days outside the stadium just to get tickets, which are often priced at two or three times their regular value.^[2][3]

This is despite the fact that both Rayados and Tigres play in far smaller stadiums than either America's Estadio Azteca or Guadalajara's Estadio Jalisco,^[4] and also despite the fact that the Clásico Regiomontano involves teams from only one city, while the National derby involves teams from two more populated cities (Mexico City and Guadalajara).^[5]

In 39 years and 100 official games, Tigres and Monterrey are tied with 35 wins each. The teams have tied on 29 occasions, with one game being suspended.

Record

G = Games Played; W = Won; T = Tied; L = Lost; GF = Goals in Favor; GA = Goals Against; Dif = Goal Difference

• Clásico 28 was suspended without result & 48 invalidated

Historical Results

Notable Clásicos

• Clásico 1.^[1] On July 13, 1974. The first Clásico Regiomontano was the first game Tigres played in the First Division, and resulted in a tie. Result: Tigres 3-3 Rayados.

• Clásico 2. Monterrey won the first clasico Regiomontano in Nuevo Leon with a score of 2-1. Goals for Rayados were made by Nilo Acuna at the 44th and Alfredo Jimenez at the 89th minute. Tigres goal was made by Alberto Rodriguez at a really late time of the 92nd minute.

• Clásico 12 and 13.^[1][6] June 6, and June 16, 1979. This was the first time that Tigres and Rayados met on playoffs, although this was not a direct elimination instance. In the 1978-1979 league playoffs were played in an elimination "group-stage" format, in which, after league elimination, two groups of four teams were formed and the leader of each group advanced to the Final. Tigres and Rayados were in Group 2, along with Pumas and Zacatepec. Both games were played in the Estadio Universitario. Tigres won Clásico 12 with a goal by Mantegazza at the 18th minute. Clásico 13 ended with a draw by 1-1, in which Rayados' Raúl Isiordia scored first, at the 8th minute, only to be tied at the 40th by Gerónimo Barbadillo. With these results, Tigres managed to tie first place with Pumas, but did not qualify to the final due to goal difference.

• Clásico 51. On March 24, 1996. Tigres had three very bad seasons being the worst team in Mexico,^[7] as a result of government corruption (Tigres were then government-owned). It was a done deal that Tigres would be relegated to Primera División A, but to confirm it, they only needed to lose one more game. The last game in which Tigres saw that remote possibility was the Clásico, in which with goals by Sergio "El Pibe" Verdirame with a superb volley goal that silenced everyone in Estadio Universitario and another awesome goal from Luis Miguel Salvador kicking the ball in midair and chipping the ball over the goalie scoring the second, Monterrey won by 2-1.

• Clásico 71 . The "4 a 1" on June 4, 2003. This was the first time that Tigres and Rayados met in the Semifinals. There was a sense that that whoever won this semifinal would have been the favorite for the championship. Tigres started the first game well, scoring very early 1-0, but 4 unanswered goals by Rayados turned the tide in the game and in the Semifinals.

• Clásico 75 . Goals galore. Tigres humiliated Rayados 6-2 (scoring 6 goals in a derby for the second time).

• Clásico 79. Rayados, again, made it to the Finals. Tigres was victorious in the first game (Clásico 78) 1-0 in the Estadio Universitario. For the second game, Rayados won 2-1, Defender Claudio Suárez saw the red card in a play that gave Rayados a penalty and the goal lead. Rayados defeated Tigres with an incredible goal by Guillermo "El Guille" Franco as the game neared the 90 minute mark. This was the 2nd time in which Rayados advanced to the championship final games at the expense of Tigres.

• Clásico 99. Rayados defeats Tigres for the third time in direct-elimination playoffs. Tigres finished the regular season as the leader with 35 points and only 2 defeats in the regular season. One of their two defeats was against Monterrey in the Clasico 97. Monterrey did not qualify to playoffs, ending the regular season in the ninth place. Queretaro F.C. finished in eight place and was meant to be the rival of Tigres, but was relegated to Ascenso MX because of bad results from the past. So Monterrey was dragged to playoffs. In the Clasico 98, the away game of the playoffs, Monterrey defeated Tigres by 1-0 in the Estadio Tecnologico in a close game that Tigres controlled most of the time. In the second game, Tigres needed to win by 1-0, or by two goals of difference because of the away goals rule (3-1, 4-2, 5-3). Tigres came out aggressive and Danilinho scored a goal early in the game. Minutes later, with a game totally handled by Tigres, Israel Jimenez scored an own goal that tied the game 1-1, for an aggregate of 2-1.

• Clásico 100. The so-called revenge of Tigres in the 100th edition of the Clásico Regiomontano. Tigres lost painfully the Clásico 99 by an own goal of Israel Jimenez and was eliminated from the liguilla (playoffs) by Monterrey. Since the elimination in the Clásico 99, Tigres was waiting a chance to redeem themselves and, despite playoffs being clearly more important than random Clásicos during regular season, the press eagerly decided to call this a revenge. Both teams started aggressive but Tigres had the first chance and young Alan Pulido scored with the head the 1-0 after a long pass of Jesús Dueñas. After a mistake of Hugo Ayala, Humberto Suazo tied the game 1-1. Pulido scored again for the 2-1 for Tigres. In the second half, Tigres controlled the game and captain Lucas Lobos scored the final 3-1.

• Clásico 101. Another relevant derby and another victory for Monterrey. After supposedly getting revenge from another painful loss in a direct elimination game, Tigres returned to their comfort zone and lost against Rayados in the 101st edition of the Clásico, this time as part of the Copa MX quarterfinals. After a 0-2 lead for Tigres at the end of the first half, César Delgado entered as a substitute and turned things for Monterrey by scoring the 1-2 and assisting the goal that settled the score on the 93rd minute—a dramatic headbutt from Luis Madrigal. This forced penalty kicks without overtime. Rayados scored 4 out of 4 penalty kicks. Tigres' first shot was held by Rayados' goalkeeper Juan de Dios Ibarra, and Manuel Viniegra hit the crossbar on their last shot for a final score of 4-2 for Monterrey. As it can be seen in the previous summaries, there is always someone to blame for Tigres (e.g. Government corruption in Clásico 51, Israel Jimenez in Clásico 99 or Hugo Ayala in Clásico 100), and this time was no exception as the press blamed Tigres' coach and players.^[8]

Notable players

Most Appearances

• 27, Jesús Arellano is the Rayados player with most Clásicos played and the best regio montano in History.^[9]
• 26, "El Jefe" Tomás Boy is the Tigres player with most Clásicos played.^[9]
• 16, Francisco Javier "El Abuelo" Cruz is one of the few players to be successful with both Tigres and Rayados.^[9]

Most Goals

• 11, Mario de Souza Mota "Bahía" is the greatest scorer in the history of the Clasicos. He played for Rayados.^{[citation needed]}
• 3, Walter Gaitán Tied as the best scorer for Tigres in the history of Clásicos.^[10]
• 8, Claudio "El Diablo" Nuñez Tied as the best scorer for Tigres in the history of the Clásico.^[10]

Other Famous Players

• Luis "El Matador" Hernandez. He was the first player to have scored with both teams first with Monterrey.^{[citation needed]}
• Sebastián "El Loco" Abreu. He was the first foreign player (born in Uruguay) to have scored with both teams first with Rayados and Most known in Rayados.^{[citation needed]}
• Gaston Fernandez is the second foreign player (born in Argentina) to have scored with both teams first with Rayados.
• Aldo de Nigris Became the first player to have scored first with Tigres in a derby, and then with Rayados. He is also the first player that was born in the city of Monterrey to score for both teams.

Notable coaches

• Carlos Miloc, Coached Tigres and never lost a Clásico Regiomontano for a total of 13 undefeated games.
• Victor Manuel Vucetich, Coached both teams; Tigres at two different points. With Tigres he won the Copa Mexico in '96 but went to the lower division at the end of that season. With Monterrey he won the Mexican Championship twice and the CONCACAF Champions League thrice.
• Ricardo Ferretti, He is the current coach of Tigres. He has coached the team in three different periods: 2000–2003, 2006 and 2010 to date. He has lost against Monterrey in playoffs in three different instances: Clausura 03 (semifinals), Clausura 13 (quarterfinals) and Copa MX Apertura 13 (quarterfinals).

References