Derby of the eternal enemies

The derby of the eternal rivals (Ντέρμπι των αιωνίων αντιπάλων), also called mother of all battles (μητέρα όλων των μαχών), is a football local derby in the metropolitan area Athens- Piraeus between the most successful clubs of Greece, Olympiacos and Panathinaikos. The rivalry between the clubs and their fans is 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 derby is traditionally included among the world's top 10 greatest football derbies by the international media, along with rivalries such as Real Madrid–Barcelona, Liverpool–Manchester United and Boca Juniors–River Plate. American network CNN has ranked the Olympiacos–Panathinaikos derby among the ten greatest football rivalries of all-time. In October 2014, BBC named the Olympiacos–Panathinaikos derby as "Europe's maddest derby" and in September 2019, Daily Mirror ranked the derby of the eternal enemies as the fifth most important derby in the world.

Cultural rivalry
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 Athenian 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.

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. Today, both clubs boast fanbases that represent all social classes.

Fans' rivalry
Olympiacos and Panathinaikos are the most popular Greek clubs, with both sides having large fanbases that follow them in domestic and international matches. Football hooliganism is a very common phenomenon between their fans in recent years, featuring anything from breaking seats and fighting to fireworks and street rioting.

Football rivalry
Both clubs compete with each other for the title of the most successful football club in the country, as well as the greatest Greek sports club overall. Their football departments have always been the most attractive among their fans and they have a long-standing antagonism since they first met in the fields, but the rivalry also extends into other team sports such as basketball, volleyball and water polo.

Domestically, Olympiacos is the most successful football club in Greece, having won a record 81 major official titles compared to Panathinaikos' 44 titles and also being the most successful in their head-to-head fixtures.

Until 2024, Panathinaikos boasted of their better performance in European competitions. Their greatest success is the participation in the European Cup final in 1971, two semi-final appearances in the UEFA Champions League (1985, 1996) and four quarter-final appearances in the UEFA Champions League (1992, 2002) and UEFA Europa League (1988,2003). This changed in 2024, when Olympiacos won the UEFA Conference League, becoming the first Greek team to win an official UEFA´s title. Other top performances are their campaign to the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League in 1999 and their campaign to the quarter-finals of the 1992–93 European Cup Winners' Cup

Records

 * Record win of the pre Alpha Ethniki era
 * Olympiacos:
 * Home: Olympiacos – Panathinaikos 6–1, Neo Phaliron Velodrome, 16 February 1936
 * Away: Panathinaikos – Olympiacos 0–3, Leoforos Alexandras Stadium, 7 May 1939
 * Panathinaikos:
 * Home: Panathinaikos – Olympiacos 8–2, Leoforos Alexandras Stadium, 1 June 1930
 * Away: Olympiacos – Panathinaikos 1–4, Karaiskakis Stadium, 3 March 1940
 * Record Alpha Ethniki win
 * Olympiacos
 * Home: Olympiacos – Panathinaikos 4–0, Karaiskakis Stadium, 26 February 1967 (Vasiliou 17', Sideris 20', 35', 62')
 * Away: Panathinaikos – Olympiacos 1–4, Leoforos Alexandras Stadium, 16 May 2021 (Maurício 53' – Masouras 7', 12', El-Arabi 38', 72')
 * Panathinaikos
 * Home: Panathinaikos – Olympiacos 3–0, Athens Olympic Stadium, 26 January 1992 (Marangos 18', Saravakos 30', Warzycha 78')
 * Away: Olympiacos – Panathinaikos 1–4, Karaiskakis Stadium, 24 July 1960 (K. Papazoglou 15' – Papaemmanouil 23', 71' pen., 83', Lemos 42' o.g.), Olympiacos – Panathinaikos 1–4, Athens Olympic Stadium, 8 November 1987 (Zelilidis 22' – Michos 13' o.g., Vlachos 42', 87', Saravakos 46') and Olympiacos – Panathinaikos 0–3, Karaiskakis Stadium, 2 March 2014 (Pranic 45', Berg 68', Abeid 89')
 * Record Greek Cup win
 * Olympiacos
 * Home: Olympiacos – Panathinaikos 4–0, Karaiskakis Stadium, 13 April 1983 (Kousoulakis 58', Anastopoulos 94', 115', 119' pen.) and Olympiacos – Panathinaikos 4–0, Karaiskakis Stadium, 16 January 2008 (LuaLua 6', Torosidis 63', Kovačević 65', Núñez 80')
 * Away: Panathinaikos – Olympiacos 1–6, Leoforos Alexandras Stadium, 13 November 1932 (Sachlikis 28' – V. Andrianopoulos 16', 68', 88', Ragos 24', Vazos 69', 70')
 * Panathinaikos
 * Common field: Panathinaikos – Olympiacos 4–0, Athens Olympic Stadium, 28 May 1986 (Vlachos 24', Dimopoulos 52', Saravakos 57', 72')
 * Home: Panathinaikos – Olympiacos 3–2, Leoforos Alexandras Stadium, 13 January 1982 (Charalambidis 47', 63' pen., 96' pen. – Persias 1', Anastopoulos 6')
 * Away: Olympiacos – Panathinaikos 2–3, Karaiskakis Stadium, 1 March 1995 (Alexandris 45', Kalitzakis 58' o.g. – Kapouranis 26', Donis 71', Warzycha 89' pen.)
 * Longest sequence of Alpha Ethniki wins
 * Olympiacos: 5, 8 December 1996 – 8 May 1999
 * Home: 4, 5 February 1966 – 11 May 1970
 * Away: 3, 6 April 1997 – 21 November 1999
 * Panathinaikos: 3, 11 April 1977 – 31 December 1978
 * Home: 2, 11 April 1977 – 12 February 1978
 * Away: 2, 11 May 1970 – 20 February 1972
 * Longest sequence of Greek Cup wins
 * Olympiacos: 3, 14 July 1965 – 9 July 1969 and 3 May 1953 – 7 August 1960
 * Home: 6, 26 March 1939 – 9 July 1969
 * Away: 2, 26 June 1966 – 21 July 1968 and 22 February 1995–present
 * Panathinaikos: 3, 8 June 1977 – 13 April 1983 and 6 February 1985 – 8 May 1988
 * Home: 4, 8 June 1977 – 4 April 1990
 * Away: 1
 * Longest sequence of unbeaten Alpha Ethniki matches
 * Olympiacos: 11, 11 May 1980 – 7 November 1985
 * Home: 10, 8 December 1996 – 4 March 2007
 * Away: 8, 2 November 1980 – 6 November 1988
 * Panathinaikos: 7, 8 November 1987 – 10 March 1991
 * Home: 7, 14 February 1960 – 6 November 1966
 * Away: 5, 8 November 1987 – 13 December 1992
 * Longest sequence of unbeaten Greek Cup matches
 * Olympiacos: 18, 13 November 1932 – 8 June 1977
 * Home: 10, 14 July 1965 – 20 February 1985
 * Away: 8, 13 November 1932 – 8 June 1977
 * Panathinaikos: 4, 6 February 1985 – 22 March 1990
 * home: 7, 8 June 1977 – 22 February 1995
 * away: 3, 11 March 1992 – 16 January 2008
 * Attendance records (in Athens Olympic Stadium)
 * 74,452 Olympiacos – Panathinaikos 0–0, 18 November 1984
 * 74,252 Olympiacos – Panathinaikos 2–1, 16 February 1987
 * 74,146 Panathinaikos – Olympiacos 1–1, 31 March 1985
 * 73,700 Panathinaikos – Olympiacos 1–2, 16 March 1986
 * 73,525 Panathinaikos – Olympiacos 1–1, 20 September 1986

Super League Greece (1959 – present)
1 Match suspended at 82nd minute (score: 3–2). Olympiacos were awarded a 2–0 win. 2 Match suspended at 82nd minute (score: 0–1). Olympiacos were awarded a 0–3 win. 3 Match suspended before the kickoff after a firework touched an Olympiacos' player sport jogger. Olympiacos were awarded a 0–3 win. 4 Match suspended at 70th minute (score: 0–1). Olympiacos were awarded a 0–3 win. 5 Match suspended at 55th minute (score: 1–1) after a Panathinaikos' player was injured and transferred to the hospital because of a firecracker that burst next to him. The player was diagnosed with horizontal nystagmus. Panathinaikos were awarded a 0–3 win.

1st place play-off match – Title match

Greek Cup
1 Panathinaikos didn't show up in the match, due to a punishment because of fielding a suspended player. • Series won: Olympiacos 19, Panathinaikos 10.

Greek League Cup
• Series won: Olympiacos 1, Panathinaikos 0.

Top scorers
1 Including League Cup games.

Penalties
Including all the Alpha Ethniki, Greek Cup and League Cup games since 1959–60.

Red cards
Including all the Alpha Ethniki, Greek Cup and League Cup games since 1959–60.

Head-to-head ranking in Super League Greece
• Total: Olympiacos 40 times higher, Panathinaikos 25 times higher.