It’s a play on the famous El Clasico played between Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona - another iteration is El Trafico between LA Galaxy and LA FC in the States - names like that tend to develop over time but it appears the whiteboard junkies in marketing couldn’t resist stamping this one before a ball had been kicked.
Where is the match? When is kickoff?
Te Whanganui a Tara Wellington has the honour of hosting the first Clasico at Sky Stadium aka The Cake Tin. Organisers are hoping for a crowd of more than 20,000 with about 15,000 tickets sold already so a few walk-ins are predicted. Kiwis are notoriously fair weather sports fans and you know what they say about Wellington on a good day.
The Auckland FC v Wellington Phoenix derby will kick off at the family friendly hour of 5pm on Saturday afternoon.
The A-League Men’s season has just started, how have the two teams gone so far?
Wellington Phoenix are coming off the back of their best ever season in 2023/24 and have picked up pretty much where they left off. Their first match against Western United saw them ahead 1-0 through Kosta Barbarouses until a 76th minute equaliser meant the points were shared.
Second up they faced Perth Glory away from home - goals either side of half time from Scott Wootton - as he nodded home a well delivered free kick - and Tim Payne - who also headed home a dangerous looped ball into the area - saw the Phoenix home and to the top of the table - briefly.
Auckland FC’s first match in their history had them hosting Brisbane Roar at a sold out Go Media Stadium. An early own goal set up by captain Hiroki Sakai settled a few nerves but the home crowd had to wait until the 74th minute for Logan Rogerson to coolly slot home a cross and seal the three points with a 2-0 win.
Second time out and there are few bigger tests in the A-League than Sydney FC.
Auckland spurned a couple of good chances in the first half and almost were made to pay for it as Sydney had a late go ahead goal ruled out for offside by VAR.
The Auckland faithful will be pleased with the resolve their side showed and they were rewarded for that faith with a bedlam-inducing 97th minute winner via a backheel nutmeg from defender Nando Pijnaker to steal the three points and send them to the top of the table outright.