The Atle-Tiba, also known as Atletiba, is one of the most traditional derbies in Brazilian football. It is the match between the two biggest football clubs of Paraná: Coritiba and Atlético. The teams founded in 1909 and 1924 respectively and have been each other's rival for many decades. On many occasions the championship of Campeonato Paranaense, the state competition of Paraná, was decided by an Atle-Tiba.
History
Background
The Braziliancity ofCuritiba, capital of the state Paraná in the south of Brazil, has always been divided in two halves when it comes to football. The traditional families that had lived in Curitiba for generations rooted for América and Internacional, whereas the new immigrants were represented by Coritiba. It stayed like that, until the traditional families were united when América and Internacional merged to become "Atlético Paranaense" in 1924. For the fans of Atlético, the opposite fans were 'coxas brancas' - white thighs - because of the skin color of most of Coritiba's fans and players. Atleticanos got the nickname 'almofadinhas', which means something like 'rich people' with a negative sense. Traditionally the Atle-Tiba is the battle between the new immigrants and the older colonists, and of the poor against the rich. Nowadays club loyalty is no longer aligned with these cleavages though.
Matches
The first official game between Coxa and o Furacão took place on June 8, 1924. On the field of Coritiba, Parque Graciosa, the new immigrants won 6-3. It took until December 25, 1927 for Atlético to win its first Atle-Tiba in Água Verde where Coritiba was beaten 2-1. Then it was Coritiba's turn to wait 3 years for a victory. In 1930 Coritiba broke the spell and won 7-3. The largest victory of Atlético against Coritiba took place on April 6, 1938. In the Estádio Joaquim Américo, Atlético beat its archrival 6-2. Coritiba's largest victory is not the earlier mentioned 7-3, but a 6-0 victory on November 14, 1959. The highest scoring games is a 7-4 victory for Coritiba as well as a 6-5 Atlético victory. In the Campeonato Paranaense, the state competition, Coritiba holds the record with 35 titles, followed by Atlético, with 22 titles. They have played against each other in the final of the tournament fifteen times, with Coritiba having the slight advantage in winning eight of those matches. The most recent examples are 2004, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2011 with Atlético winning only 2009. All the games, according to Placar:
Topscorers
Performance in recent years
In the past seasons there has been a remarkable balance between Coritiba and Atlético Paranaense. The year 2006 was marked by the absence of a direct confrontation for the first time in decades because Coritiba had been relegated to the Série B and Atlético was eliminated in the state championship and Copa do Brasil before it could meet Coritiba. The return of the Atle-Tiba in 2007 in the Campeonato Paranaense, ended in a 2-2 draw. With Coritiba still in the Série B, though, that was the only match between the two of that year. In the fourth match of the Campeonato Paranaense 2008, Atlético won a 2-0 victory in Coritiba's home stadiumCouto Pereira. Both teams advanced to the final of the state championship however, and it was Coritiba that was the better team over two matches, winning 4-3 on aggregate and becoming state champion in the archrivals' stadium. Because Coritiba became champion of the Série B in 2007, both met twice in the national championship of 2008. Both matches ended in a 1-1 draw. In the 2009 state championship the only Atle-Tiba ended in 2-4 by Coritiba, in the rival's stadium. Atlético later won the state league, with Coritiba coming in third. In the Série A of that year only Coritiba won, with 3-2. Where Atlético succeeded in escaping from relegation, though, Coritiba saw itself surprisingly pulled into the red zone with only two matches to go, and proved incapable of climbing out in time. In 2010, Coritiba qualified for the Série A, while Atlético-PR was relegated in 2011.
