Le Classique, the Vječni derbi, and now a Melbourne Derby. Jakoliš and Machach know what it means.
It might be their first season in Australia but both Marin Jakoliš and Zinédine Machach are well aware of the importance of a Derby win and how the fixture will always find a way to be special.
No plan survives contact with the enemy and no narrative survives contact with the A-Leagues. Just look at Saturday evening’s Melbourne Derby.
For much of the build-up to the club, much of the framing had centred on the reversal of roles that its two protagonists had assumed in recent years and it being a chance for Melbourne Victory to end the finals’ aspirations of three-time defending premiers Melbourne City. It’s a good line, reflective of the situation but also picking up themes of retribution, recovery, falls from grace, and more. The A-Leagues desperately need people to begin to engage in the stories around its games and players than its latest exercise in crises and this was an example of that.
Of course, this was all predicated on Western Sydney Wanderers handling their business against Brisbane Roar at home on Friday evening, a fixture that, if Marko Rudan’s side won, would have seen City head to AAMI Park this evening seven points adrift of the playoff places. But that didn’t happen. Instead, after Tom Aldred's 32nd-minute opener was cancelled out by Dylan Pierias' 64th-minute backheel, Henry Hore fired the Queenslanders back ahead in the 77th before Macklin Freke saved a 91st-minute penalty from Marcus Antonsson. Western Sydney Wanderers 1-2 Brisbane Roar.
Now, defeat against Victory would represent a significant blow to City but not completely fatal. If anything, given the murderous run home that the Wanderers face – the Sydney Derby, at home to City in a six-pointer, and away to a Victory side possibly needing a win for a top-two finish – they’d still have a better chance than most sides needing to erase a four-point gap with three games left to play, given that they’ll end the season by sandwiching the Wanderers trip with home games against Perth and Western United. Heck, ask a Roar fan, and with games against Newcastle, a Victory side they handily beat in March, and Adelaide United to come, they might try to claim it’s they who are the biggest threat to City.
So yeah, maybe the scriptwriters weren’t done too many favours by Friday evening’s game. Fortunately, the Melbourne Derby is one of the very few A-League Men fixtures capable of absorbing the blow. Derbies are made for winning, they’re for settling scores and making memories that last long in one’s memories but, perhaps just as importantly, haunt the recollections of your rivals. It's a game of late Archie Thompson winners, or late Erik Paartalu winners if you’re of the City persuasion. It’s 3-0 in a semifinal or 2-0 in the FFA Cup. It’s 6-0 and 7-0 humiliations and it’s 3-0 in front of 50k people at Marvel Stadium.
Marin Jakoliš and Zinédine Machach both have a pretty good handle on that.
Before he arrived at City, Jakoliš experienced four Vječni derbi’s as a member of Hajduk Split, facing off with Dinamo Zagreb on four occasions. Machach, meanwhile, experienced both the Choc des Olympiques against Olympique Lyonnais and Le Classique against Paris Saint-Germain while a part of Olympique de Marseille – both of those games, someone aptly given they’re how both of his two Melbourne Derby’s have gone to this point, ending in a 0-0 draw.
“The Derby, every player has extra motivation. You know when you come to the Derby, you get stronger, faster, you are more focused,” said Machach.
"[the Derby will be a] very good atmosphere for us. I love playing with my fans and when you play against [City] away a lot of fans are coming. But I think tomorrow, it’s our stadium.
“When I played in Marseille, we had a big rivalry against Paris Saint Germain and also against Lyon. And I remember one game against Lyon, the stadium of Marseille is like 60, 70k people. And the stadium is full. Great game.
“[it’s] intense. You feel like the fans are behind you. I like this, I play football for these moments.”
Jakoliš, for his part, was involved in a fierce coming together in the 70th minute of the last derby, with Victory fans furious that he didn't receive a red card for what they saw as a headbutt on Jason Geria after the pair got tangled up on the touchline – Jamie Young almost setting a new land speed record as he sprinted down the pitch from his place in the City goals to break them up. Both players received yellow cards in the end, adding a bit of potential spice to the re-match.
“It's part of the derby,” he said. “Where I come from in Croatia it's normal behaviour. Emotions are high. I understand his side, I understand my side. I think everyone who watches football understands how much emotion you put into that game. Nobody gets hurt in the end. It's nice to be a little bit fired up. And I think it'll be like this tomorrow as well.”
And while the existential peril hovering over the game might have slightly lessened heading into the contest after Friday evening’s result, Jakoliš is well aware that a win in a big game like a Derby can serve to propel a side into the weeks to come. Three points would bring them to within one of the Wanderers heading into next week’s visit from Perth and with it all to play for. And his side could certainly use the boost.
Despite outshooting their opponents 38 to 22 and accumulating 3.84 expected goals (xG) to 2.26 xG conceded, City will take the field on Saturday winless in their last two games, drawing 0-0 with Newcastle last week before falling 2-1 to the Central Coast Mariners mid-week.
“We have this confidence that we can score in any moment of the game because of the way that we play,” said the City attacker. “The last six, seven weeks have been absolutely amazing, it's just the goals that are missing.
“We had a lot of chances. I think we just need to be ruthless, we need to score every chance that we get. The way we play, the way we progress every day. I think it's a good [direction] to do it.”