Relegation, rivalry and fan rage – the clash that makes the Superclásico look tame

The sun, beating through the ravages of the Super Niño weather system, looks set to finally show its face in Buenos Aires this weekend and there should be plenty of intriguing football action to give any fan the excuse to ignore it and stay firmly planted on the sofa. 

The Liga Profesional de Futbol Clausura is entering its penultimate round, further whittling down the hopefuls for one of the 16 play-off spots on offer at the end of the season. That includes the latest edition of the Superclásico this Sunday, where Boca Juniors will look to extend the recent sunny feeling around the club by battling past River Plate at La Bombonera and become the first team to win three straight derbies between the arch-rivals since 1991.

For the true, dyed-in-the-wool football enthusiast, however (not to mention the more morbid among their number), the real highlight of the weekend comes some 24 hours after the Superclásico. A curious time for a big match, sure, at 3pm on a Monday, but somehow both fitting and necessary. Two of Greater Buenos Aires' historic clubs – and possessors of some of the region's most passionate (not to say deranged) fans – go toe-to-toe in a game which will spell disaster for one or the other.

The date has been marked on the calendars of lower-league aficionados since it became apparent months ago that Chacarita Juniors and Nueva Chicago were going to struggle in this year's edition of the second-tier Primera Nacional. Now, it is all on the line. 

Chicago currently occupy the second relegation spot in Zone B of the league, above only the already-doomed Güemes. They are tied on points with Patronato, trailing on goal difference, and are two points behind 15th-placed Chaca. On Monday, Chicago visit their rivals in San Martín, while Patronato face an away day against Atlético de Rafaela. A loss for either will condemn that team to the depths of the B Metropolitana while if they draw – Chicago must hope that Patronato lose to have any hope of survival.

What gives this fixture the added element of suspense are the supporters who will be rooting their sides on – Chicago of course from a distance, this being Argentina. 

Both Chacarita and Chicago hold a fearsome reputation even by the lofty standards of the local game for having manic fanbases, willing to kill or be killed (only a slight exaggeration) for the colours and with rap sheets as long as your arm. Both also hold plenty of grudges from their long years slogging around the lower leagues and while neither Chicago nor Chicago count the other as their primary, most-hated adversary (that title goes to Atlanta and Almirante Brown respectively, with honourable mentions to Quilmes, Boca, Morón, Vélez, Tigre, All Boys and a fair few others depending on whom you ask), there is certainly very little love lost here.

Indeed, Chicago's organised fans most of the time cannot even stand each other. Riven by savage internal battles between the barras at the start of the 2000s, the club came up with a novel solution. One faction, the 'official' Perales crew, was to be situated on one of the stands of Chicago's stadium in Mataderos, while the insurgent Antena group was given a separate stand, and non-combatants fans, a third section to stay out of trouble. Even those extreme measures have not precluded sporadic outbreak of violence between the rival crews, battling for the lucrative business that is supporting a local football team. 

Chicago additionally hold the dubious distinction of being responsible for the first blanket supporter ban in recent Argentine history: away fans from every level of lower-league football have, with a few exceptions, been barred from games ever since a riot following Chicago's relegation play-off defeat in 2007 resulted in the death of a Tigre supporter.

The Funebrero faithful, meanwhile, have been sanctioned so many times for misbehaviour that the phrase 'three-point deduction for Chaca' has become a running joke among football fans. Indeed, the most memorable part of their otherwise disastrous last foray into the top-flight, back in 2009-2010, was a game against Estudiantes in which the rioting Chaca support contrived to steal a fireman's hose and frolic under the water. 

Now, with the stakes as high as they can be, neither of these teams will want to let those same borderline-unhinged fans down and drop to Argentina's third tier.