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The Sydney derby is still the hottest ticket in town

12th January, 2017
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Sydney players celebrate after scoring a goal during the Round 12 A-League match between Adelaide United and Sydney FC at Coopers Stadium in Adelaide, Monday, Dec. 26, 2016. (AAP Image/James Elsby)
Expert
12th January, 2017
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2588 Reads

“Vedran Janjetovic could go down in history as the first A-League player to be booed by an entire stadium.”

I can’t take credit for that little gem – someone said it on Twitter a while back – but it neatly encapsulates the feeling going into Saturday night’s Sydney derby.

Janjetovic’s departure from Sydney FC was an opinion columnist’s dream, with the erstwhile Sky Blue accusing his former club of spreading “months of lies”.

But if Janjetovic thought he could ease back into life in the A-League following months on the sidelines, he should think again, because he and Terry Antonis are about to cop an absolute earful from The Cove.

We should thank Janjetovic for deciding that staying and fighting for his spot in the Sydney FC starting eleven was not for him, because it adds yet another element to the A-League’s most passionate derby.

It’s no surprise another sell-out crowd will be on hand at Moore Park, since the Sydney derby remains the hottest sporting ticket in town.

For anyone who has watched football in Europe or South America, the Sydney and Melbourne derbies produce the sort of atmosphere we’re more used to enjoying overseas.

Little wonder so many corporate supporters and stadium members are eager to get on board, with word having spread that the atmosphere at the derby is not to be missed.

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It may take a little longer to get through to the NSW Police, who seem to be stuck in the 1980s – along with some of their attitudes.

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“When there’s a local derby if people want to play up and let off flares and the like, we will conduct the normal business that way – they’ll be arrested, charged, front court, we give the information through to Soccer Australia (sic) and they’ll enact, should they choose to do so, and hopefully they do, banning procedures and the like,” Det Supt Gavin Dengate told the Sydney Morning Herald.

But while law-abiding fans should be extremely wary of the behaviour of police, there’s no reason to think the derby won’t be anything other than a massive hit.

In fact, it’s just one of a handful of mouth-watering A-League fixtures taking place across Round 15 – including Melbourne City’s unhappy trip to Adelaide last night.

Will Guillermo Amor swap Coopers Stadium for AAMI Park next season? He may feel it’s unnecessary following Adelaide’s come-from-behind victory over a frustratingly inconsistent City.

The Reds may have needed a first ever A-League goal from Mark Ochieng on the counter-attack to register their shock 2-1 win, but Amor will no doubt feel like he’s seen it all before.

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The same could be said for Melbourne Victory and Brisbane Roar, who reignite one of the A-League’s fiercest rivalries at the atmospheric AAMI Park tonight.

If A-League fans want to talk about atmospheres, they need to keep turning up in decent numbers for games at genuine football grounds like Coopers Stadium and AAMI Park.

And with second-placed Melbourne Victory looking to make up ground on table-toppers Sydney FC, the Victory fans should be out in force for a fixture that has traditionally provided plenty of entertainment.

Victory coach Kevin Muscat is right to lament a rejigged fixture list that sees his side play three league fixtures within the space of eight days, but all his team can do is beat the opponents in front of them.

It will be a similar story on Saturday night, when both Sydney teams go into the derby desperate to win for vastly different reasons.

The Wanderers would love nothing more than to prove that they’re still in the finals race by taking all three points from their bitter crosstown rivals.

But whatever happens at Allianz Stadium, this much is clear. The Sydney derby is one of the highlight fixtures on the Australian sporting calendar – and 40,000 fans are about to prove it.

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