Cruzeiro

Clássico Mineiro against Atlético Mineiro. Cruzeiro's supporters call the club Raposa, the fox, a name built on cunning rather than force, and for a stretch in the 1970s and 1990s South American writers went further, branding the side La Bestia Negra.

The club began life in Belo Horizonte as Società Sportiva Palestra Italia, founded by Italian immigrants. That name lasted until 1942, when Brazil joined the Allies against the Axis powers and the Italian identity became a liability. A stopgap label, Palestra Mineiro, held for a few months before the club settled on Cruzeiro Esporte Clube that October, taking its name from the Southern Cross constellation. No merger sits behind the change, only the war.

Tostão came up through the youth academy and became the player Cruzeiro measures itself against, the man who scored around 245 goals in blue and white and anchored the title wins of 1966 and 1970. Ronaldo passed through more briefly, two seasons in the early 1990s, 56 goals in 58 appearances, before he left for a career that included the 1994 World Cup. Fábio stayed the longest of anyone, 976 appearances as goalkeeper and captain, still on the pitch for the 2013 and 2014 championships and the Copa do Brasil wins that followed.

Cruzeiro has lifted the Copa do Brasil six times, more than any other club, and did it back-to-back in 2017 and 2018. The Copa Libertadores came twice, in 1976 — a final win over River Plate — and again in 1997, though both campaigns ended with defeat in the Intercontinental Cup, first to Bayern, later to Borussia Dortmund. The 2003 season stands apart: state, national cup and Brasileirão all won in the same year, a treble no other Brazilian club had managed before.