Some leagues half expect their titles to be decided by outcomes of derbies.
Some clubs define the success or failure of an entire season on contests with their neighbours.
The Italian top flight has derbies of all types.
AC Milan and Inter Milan live in a yin-and-yang relationship that means they would actually miss each other if they were kept apart too long.
Roma and Lazio snarl across the capital knowing that, most years, with the scudetto an unlikely dream, victory over the fellow tenants of the Stadio Olimpico is worth a trophy in itself.
This season Serie A stages a record number of city derbies in Milan, Rome, Turin, Genoa and, the rarest of them all, the stand-off in Verona that has not been witnessed in the top tier of Italian football for 12 years.
Verona is a football city that seems to say: “This town simply ain’t big enough for the both of us.”
On Saturday, chants from the Hellas Verona fans, aimed at Chievo, will spell that message out in cruder terms.
Chievo fan responses will sound fainter.
They are fewer in number.
And Chievo fear being eclipsed as top dog. They sit at the bottom of the table, amid symptoms of panic.
At the end of their last fixture, a 0-0 draw with Milan, captain Sergio Pellissier earned a red card for a hot-headed show of aggression.
Last week, Chievo parted ways with coach Giuseppe Sannino and brought back Eugenio Corini.
Pellissier is cursing himself for being out of the derby.
He has been with Chievo for more than decade, lived through the fairy tale that has seen a tiny club from a suburb with a population of less than 3,000 survive in the top flight for 11 of the past 12 seasons, scraping by on TV income, and the patronage of a local cake-making business.
Chievo begin most seasons tipped to go down. Somehow they usually defy that.
What Chievo have never been able to claim, though, is ownership of the best football fairy tale in Verona, the remarkable story of how Hellas won the 1985 scudetto ahead of the Juventus of Michel Platini, the Napoli of Diego Maradona and a star-studded Inter.
Hellas have tumbled a long way since, have even had to look up at little Chievo from the depths of Serie C.
But from sixth spot in Serie A, the derby looks appetising.
They have a waited a long time for this.
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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 201hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 320Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.7L/100km
Price: Dh133,900
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Score
Third Test, Day 1
New Zealand 229-7 (90 ov)
Pakistan
New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat
FULL%20FIGHT%20CARD
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Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
TOUCH RULES
Touch is derived from rugby league. Teams consist of up to 14 players with a maximum of six on the field at any time.
Teams can make as many substitutions as they want during the 40 minute matches.
Similar to rugby league, the attacking team has six attempts - or touches - before possession changes over.
A touch is any contact between the player with the ball and a defender, and must be with minimum force.
After a touch the player performs a “roll-ball” - similar to the play-the-ball in league - stepping over or rolling the ball between the feet.
At the roll-ball, the defenders have to retreat a minimum of five metres.
A touchdown is scored when an attacking player places the ball on or over the score-line.
List of alleged parties
May 12, 2020: PM and his wife Carrie attend 'work meeting' with at least 17 staff
May 20, 2020: They attend 'bring your own booze party'
Nov 27, 2020: PM gives speech at leaving party for his staff
Dec 10, 2020: Staff party held by then-education secretary Gavin Williamson
Dec 13, 2020: PM and his wife throw a party
Dec 14, 2020: London mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey holds staff event at Conservative Party headquarters
Dec 15, 2020: PM takes part in a staff quiz
Dec 18, 2020: Downing Street Christmas party
POSSIBLE ENGLAND EURO 2020 SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Jordan Pickford, Nick Pope, Dean Henderson.
Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Kieran Trippier, Joe Gomez, John Stones, Harry Maguire, Tyrone Mings, Ben Chilwell, Fabian Delph.
Midfielders: Declan Rice, Harry Winks, Jordan Henderson, Ross Barkley, Mason Mount, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Forwards: Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling, Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Tammy Abraham, Callum Hudson-Odoi.
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
Race 3
Produced: Salman Khan Films and Tips Films
Director: Remo D’Souza
Cast: Salman Khan, Anil Kapoor, Jacqueline Fernandez, Bobby Deol, Daisy Shah, Saqib Salem
Rating: 2.5 stars