Derby of the eternal enemies

Derby of the eternal adversaries
Ντέρμπι των αιωνίων αντιπάλων

Panathinaikos vs Olympiacos (0–1), Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium, 22 May 1983
Other names	Mother of all battles Μητέρα των μαχών
Locale	Athens / Piraeus, Greece
Teams	Olympiacos, Panathinaikos
Latest meeting	Panathinaikos 1-0 Olympiacos (19 March 2017)
Statistics
Most wins	Olympiacos (80)
Largest victory	Panathinaikos 8–2 Olympiacos (1 June 1930)
Largest goal scoring	Olympiacos (256 goals)

The Derby of the eternal adversaries (Greek: Ντέρμπι των αιωνίων αντιπάλων), also called Mother of all battles (Greek: Μητέρα των μαχών), is a football local derby in the Athens urban area between the most successful clubs of Greece, Olympiacos and Panathinaikos. The rivalry between the clubs and their fans is rather intense, thus this derby has always been a classic for the Greek capital, as well as the whole of Greece, the most prestigious in the country.

The rivalry between the two top Greek clubs can be traced back to some social, cultural and regional differences. Panathinaikos, founded in 1908, comes from the centre of Athens and was considered the classic representative of the high class and old Athenean society of the Greek capital. On the other hand, Olympiacos was founded in 1925 and comes from Piraeus, the port city just on the outskirts of Athens, thus attracting supporters from the surrounding working class areas. Both cities have played a major role in Greek history since classical antiquity; Athens was regarded as the cradle of the ancient Greek civilization, taking advantage of Piraeus' strategical potential and forming a unified region with the latter. During the 20th century, Athens experienced a demographic explosion and territorial expansion coming to enclose all its suburbs, including Piraeus, in a large urban area.

These class differences between the people in the homelands of the two clubs offered further reasons for the animosity between their fans. Olympiacos' early success provided a way for the people of Piraeus to express their contempt for the wealthier classes, by which Panathinaikos was heavily supported. Furthermore, Olympiacos attracted fans from all over Greece who believed themselves to be victims of social and political unfairness. However, this kind of clash was much more pronounced in the past, as the class differences between the fanbases have faded out and the social gap that once separated the two sides has closed over the years. Nowadays, both clubs boast fanbases that represent all the social classes.