Atalanta v Brescia: the Italian derby built on a 900-year-old feud

There is something about Italian football that is difficult to pin down. Of course there is the passion, the singing and the rivalries but there is also a special ingredient that give calcio its special “made in Italy” appeal. It comes down to campanilismo, which literally translates to “belltowerism” – that intensified love of a place that is born out of Italy’s complex and divided history. This is a country where religion is deep-rooted, harking back to a time where local communities centred around their churches.

The Lombardia derby sums up that campanilismo and, for the first time in 13 years, the stage appeared to be set for its return. Wars and conflicts dating back to the Middle Ages lay the foundations for this rivalry, which continue to manifest themselves today in the form of food, art, dialect and, above all else, football.

The rivalry between Bergamo – the home city of Atalanta – and Brescia may look esoteric to outsiders, but it dates back to the 12th century. In 1126, some land in Brescia went up for sale and the city of Bergamo bought it to give themselves a territorial advantage, kicking off skirmishes that only abated three decades later when the Roman Emperor, Frederick I, intervened and returned the land to Brescia.

War broke out between the cities a few years later over another territorial dispute. The Brescians invaded the province of Bergamo and inflicted a resounding military defeat on their rivals, killing 2,500 Bergamaschi. Enrico VI eventually brought relative peace to the region but the simmering animosity eventually boiled over again, this time culminating in the gruesome Battle of Cortenuova, where the Bergamaschi finally defeated the Guelfs of Brescia. Since then, the two provinces have endured similar histories, floating between Venetian, Milanese, French, Napoleonic and Austrian ruling, before eventually becoming integrated into the Kingdom of Italy in 1861.

When Italy’s first football clubs were established a few decades later, the sport became the vehicle through which these historic rivalries were played out. People in Bergamo refer to their neighbours as “pigs” (Brescia has more pigs than people), while the Bresciani return the insults by calling Bergamaschi “rabbits”. During a derby in the 1930s, Brescia fans released hundreds of rabbits on to the pitch at the Stadio Rigamonti. Atalanta and Brescia have never been as successful as the big clubs in Milan, but they have produced a number of players who become legends in the nearby city, including the Baresi brothers, Andrea Pirlo, Filippo Inzaghi and Roberto Donadoni.

Friction between Atalanta and Brescia has always existed, but the fixture took on a whole new dynamic during a match in May 1993. Brescia – who had Gheorghe Hagi and Florin Raducioiu in their team at the time – won 2-0 but the game was suspended three times due to animosity in the stands. The brawling continued after the game finished, resulting in five arrests and 20 people in hospital.

Their meeting are rare but they are always littered with memorable moments – most notably Carlo Mazzone’s run in down the touchline in September 2001. The legendary Brescia manager had been animated through the game at the Stadio Mario Rigamonti, receiving plenty of abuse from Atalanta fans. His side were 3-1 down at half-time but Roberto Baggio scored for Brescia in the 75th minute to make it 3-2. At this point, Mazzone shouted to the ultras in the Atalanta end that he was coming over there when his team equalised.

Baggio completed his hat-trick with a free-kick in the last minute and Mazzone set off down the touchline, evading his staff as they tried to hold him back. The 64-year-old ran up to the away end and shook his fist at the fans, ready to take on thousands of them singlehandedly. “I turned into lightning,” said Mazzone. “I ran like lightning without thinking what might happen when I got there. I wanted to settle this once and for all. Man to man, in a rustic fashion, in an old-fashioned duel.” The referee, Pierluigi Collina, simply waited for Mazzone to walk back up the field before sending him off. Mazzone accepted his fate gracefully.

When the fixture finally returned this year, football fans across the country were eager to see how a new generation of fans would interpret this incredible legacy. Unfortunately, Italy’s authorities doubled down on their attempts to suppress the fans with new policing innovations – such as fan ID cards – which have been widely criticised by fans throughout Serie A. These draconian measures coupled with extortionate ticket priced have led to a drop in attendances across the country, mirroring Serie A’s recent decline in quality. So, at this, the first derby in 13 years, Atalanta supporters decided to boycott the game in Brescia. The visitors won 3-0, but Italian football was the real loser.

For a country where football carries such rich historical value – and whose supporters express cultural significance with such fervour – the match promised much more than it ultimately delivered. Still, the derby of Lombardia remains one of the most iconic, under-appreciated and fascinating rivalries football has to offer, with the weight of 900 years of history behind it.