Ukrainian derby

Klasychne

An Ukrainian classico clash in 2009
Other names	Ukrainian derby
Locale	Ukraine
Teams	Dynamo Kyiv Shakhtar Donetsk
First meeting	July 18, 1938 (Monday)

Klasychne (Ukrainian: Класичне, as Classico), or the Ukrainian football rivalry is the football match between the two top Ukrainian clubs, since 1996 – FC Dynamo Kyiv and FC Shakhtar Donetsk (in 1981–1996 FC Dynamo Kyiv and FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk).

Dynamo and Shakhtar were the top Ukrainian clubs since introduction of the Soviet professional football competitions. They played against each other since 1938 and the rivalry between them two grew into the Ukrainian national rivalry only sometime after 1996 since the teams were two main contenders for the national title.

In 1981 to 1996 the Ukrainian rivalry was played among Dynamo Kyiv and Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk that returned to the Soviet Top League in 1981 and won couple of Soviet titles in 1980s, while almost becoming a champion during the 1992-93 season.

During the times of the Soviet Union, the Ukrainian rivalry was overshadowed by the rivalry among Dynamo Kiev and Spartak Moscow (see Spartak Moscow–Dynamo Kyiv derby) that has developed sometime in 1960s.

The two clubs first met back in 1938 in Kyiv in the Soviet Top League with Dynamo winning it 2-0. At the time, Dynamo Kyiv was the main representative of Ukraine in the Soviet League, while Shakhtar initially had some difficulties to secure their place there. The Donbass team, however, was considered to be the main representative of the Ukrainian SSR other than Dynamo, representing the most industrialized and heavily urbanized eastern region of Ukraine. In a few occasions Shakhtar even managed to place higher than the Dynamo's "Capitals" in League, but for the most of the time Dynamo had more success head-to-head. Their meetings were not as popular in the Soviet League outside of Ukraine as the Moscow - Kyiv face off particularly between Dynamo and Spartak.