Five Superclásicos for the Ages: From Young Salas to Sampaoli's Rout

Some matches are played once and remembered forever. The Superclásico between Universidad de Chile and Colo Colo is one of those rivalries that, edition after edition, keeps producing chapters that not even the passing of years can erase. This Sunday brings match number 200 in the top division, and before the ball gets rolling, it's worth looking back at five games that are permanently etched into Chilean soccer memory.

1994: A Young Salas Lights the Fuse

On May 15, 1994, at Estadio Nacional, Arturo Salah's U squad hosted a Colo Colo side arriving as reigning champion and clear favorite. More than 64,000 fans watched Juan Carlos Ibáñez open the scoring before a teenage Marcelo Salas doubled the lead before the 15-minute mark. Toninho pulled one back for the Cacique, but Sergio Vargas turned in a heroic performance between the posts until Salas himself sealed it from the penalty spot for a final 3-1. It was just the beginning of a season in which the Blues would go on to celebrate a title after 25 years without one.

2006: Penalties and the Birth of "Prohibido Olvidar"

The final of the 2006 Torneo de Apertura was decided over two legs and a penalty shootout nobody has forgotten. Colo Colo won the first leg 2-1 thanks to a brace from Matías Fernández, while the U took the second leg 1-0 with a goal from Luis Pedro Figueroa, leveling the aggregate score at 2-2. Everything came down to the spot: Claudio Bravo saved shots from Hugo Droguett and Mayer Candelo, and Miguel Aceval, a Pedrero academy product, buried the decisive kick for a final 4-2. That night gave birth to the Colo Colo chant "Prohibido olvidar," meaning "forbidden to forget."

2010: The Flag That Burned

On November 7, 2010, under heavy rain at the Nacional, Esteban Paredes put the Cacique ahead with a free kick. The U turned it around with goals from Juan González and Matías Rodríguez, but in the final play, Javier Cámpora rose to head home a 2-2 equalizer off a cross from Macnelly Torres. The goal was mired in controversy: assistant referee Patricio Basualto had dropped his flag and was unable to call a clear offside on the Argentine forward.

2012: Sampaoli's Rout

On April 29, 2012, Jorge Sampaoli's U side delivered the biggest win in the club's history over Colo Colo in the Torneo Apertura: 5-0. Marcelo Díaz opened the scoring with a free kick before halftime, and the rout continued in the second half with a brace from Matías Rodríguez plus goals from Igor Lichnovsky and Ángelo Henríquez, while Mauro Olivi was sent off for the white-and-black side. Months later, that same Blue squad would go on to win an unprecedented third straight national title.

2018: Paredes Steals the Show Again

On April 15, 2018, the U jumped ahead early with a goal from Mauricio Pinilla in the 6th minute, but Esteban Paredes, the Chuncho's historic tormentor, answered with a brace that included one of the greatest goals in derby history: a shot into the top corner that Johnny Herrera had no chance of stopping. With Jean Beausejour sent off after a clash with Pinilla, Claudio Baeza sealed a 3-1 win for the Cacique. Paredes would finish his career as one of the Superclásico's all-time leading scorers, alongside the legendary Carlos Campos.

Five matches, five different emotions, the same old rival. That's how the history of the Chilean Superclásico has been written, and this Sunday adds one more page.