Once more unto the breach

It is one of those words that have no true equivalent in North American sport.

“Derby” – not roller, or Kentucky, or the funny little hat worn by old time cartoon characters, but the soccer matches that pit neighbourhood against neighbourhood, that divide cities down the centre, that create absolute lines of demarcation which remain unchanged through generations.

There are rivalries here, and powerful ones: Calgary versus Edmonton, Toronto versus Montreal, Yankees versus Red Sox, Celtics versus Lakers.

But a derby – that’s dar-bee - is a different animal entirely. It has meaning independent of either team’s current circumstances. There doesn’t have to be a championship or playoff berth on the line. Derbies can play out on the biggest stage or the tiniest, between clubs that have become global brands, or those all but unknown beyond the borders of their town. They can mean nothing in terms of the big picture and still mean everything in terms of where you come from and who you are. On Sunday at Old Trafford, the Manchester Derby will take place for the 161st time in all competitions, an unbroken history stretching back to the 19th century, a classic pairing of have versus (until very recently) have-not, the slick and famous versus the hardscrabble guys from the other side of the tracks.

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Television note: Tune in to Sportsnetworld on Sunday at 7:30 a.m. ET to watch the 161st Manchester derby | Follow Sportsnetworld on Twitter

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Manchester United against Manchester City, red against blue: you really don’t need to say much more than that. This installment is particularly intriguing both because of what’s the same as ever, and because of what’s different now – City, the perpetual underdog, sits atop the Premiership tables following their best season start since 1897, giving them the chance to pull five points clear of their cross-town rivals with a win. On Tuesday, they scored a dramatic victory over Villarreal – their first win during their first ever foray into the Champions League – and so should arrive at Old Trafford on a high, while United, though they have not lost in any competition this year, have looked a bit stale of late.

For any City lifer, all of those good tidings suggest only one thing: that somewhere up in the sky an anvil is ready to drop, that a cruel cosmic joke is being perpetrated, that they are being set up for one more boot below the belt. Manchester derbies are matches that they desperately want to win, and fully expect to lose.

It has been tough making the psychological adjustment to prosperity, shedding the self-image of a sad-sack. Just thirteen years ago, City had fallen all the way to the third tier of English football, while United has enjoyed a remarkable quarter century under the guidance of Sir Alex Ferguson, evolving from a football club with a storied history into arguably the most glamorous and famous team in any game on the planet. City has the odd celebrity supporter, and are now edging towards fashionable, but at United there are superstars all over the pitch and in the stands - though a person sitting next to you at Old Trafford, decked out in hundreds of pounds worth of licensed apparel, is nearly as likely to be from Tokyo or Los Angeles or London as from Manchester itself.

Things started to change in 2007 when City was purchased by Thaksin Shinawatra - a Thai political figure with an extremely checkered history who (on the evidence of a single, quite memorable meeting) can at least be a charming dinner companion. Thaksin began the process of pushing City into the big-money stratosphere where all Premiership contenders reside, then sold the club a little over a year later to the even wealthier Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi.

The Sheikh in turn hired manager Roberto Mancini, and continued to stack the club with talent (including ex-United man Owen Hargreaves, who continues his near miraculous comeback). Even Carlos Tevez’s sit down strike has failed to kill the early season magic.

So this time, in addition to more than a century of accumulated baggage, it could be that this derby will reveal which is the best side in English football right now. And when they meet again on April 28th on City’s home ground with the season almost done, it could be that it decides a championship.

Bleed blue, and it is bad karma even to imagine it.