Nothing bigger than the Big Blue between Victory and Sydney FC

The Big Blue has found a special place as a contest in the Australian sporting landscape.

Paulo Retre is the centre of attention at a Sydney FC training session yesterday. Picture: AAP

It’s a rivalry born 15 years ago, and there can be no doubt that the Big Blue has found a special place as a contest in the Australian sporting landscape.

As much as the A-League has had something of a preoccupation in recent times with trying to manufacture and sell itself on derby encounters such as in Sydney (Sydney FC and Western Sydney), Melbourne (Victory against City), the Long Distance Derby (Perth Glory and Wellington Phoenix) and the M1 derby (Central Coast Mariners v Newcastle Jets), it should not be forgotten that it is the Sydney FC v Melbourne Victory match-up that is the original and the best.

It was with good reason that it was labelled soccer’s version of the State of Origin or, better still, Australia’s El Classico.

The arrival of the Wanderers in 2012 undoubtedly sparked the tribal warfare that is the Sydney derby and shifted much of the relevance away from the Big Blue. But you get the feeling the balance has clawed back the other way over the past couple of seasons.

There are two factors behind that — the race for bragging rights as to which club is the most successful, and the events of the past two seasons that have seen the clubs produce two of the more remarkable games in A-League finals history.

Widely regarded as the two biggest entities in the national competition, Melbourne Victory and Sydney FC are also the most successful in terms of trophies won.

Victory have 11 finals appearances, four championships, three Premiers Plates and an FFA Cup. Sydney have 10 finals appearances, three championships, three Premiers Plates and an FFA Cup.

For the third season in succession, the two teams will play each other in a finals match, tomorrow at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium.

The winner will go on to the grand final next week with the chance to add to their impressive records.

BIG BLUE FINALS HISTORY, Sydney FC v Melbourne Victory

Kevin Muscat’s Victory side will be hoping they can increase the gap between them and the Sky Blues, while Steve Corica’s team would love nothing better than to join the Victorians as the most successful club in the short history of the league.

Just what this all means to both clubs has never been better illustrated than the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons.

Sydney completed one of the greatest seasons of all time in 2017. Having lost just one game during the season, Graham Arnold’s team came from a goal down to force extra time before eventually beating Victory in a penalty shootout in the grand final.

But nothing could top last season’s gripping and extraordinary semi-final between the two at Allianz Stadium — a game rightly described as the best Big Blue of all time and one of the best games seen in the A-League.

Having gone into the match as favourites off the back of being the defending champions and winning a second straight Premiers Plate, the Sky Blues came from a goal down to extend the game into extra time, the equaliser coming with the last kick of normal time when Terry Antonis put the ball into the back of his own net just as the Victorians were preparing to celebrate.

Antonis, however, became the hero in extra time when he collected the ball near halfway and, in a desperate foot race, eluded three Sydney players on the way to goal before planting his shot into the back of the net to make it 3-2. That sparked incredible scenes including some Victory staff rushing on the field to celebrate with Antonis.

The importance of that goal was amplified a week later when Victory created history by becoming the first team outside the top two on the ladder (they finished fourth) to win the championship after they beat the Newcastle Jets in the grand final to claim their fourth title.

Sydney finished second behind Perth Glory this season but Melbourne, who finished third, will go into the game favourites this time.

While Allianz Stadium is no longer part of the equation, the amphitheatre-like Jubilee Stadium will help add yet another fascinating chapter to the history between the two clubs.