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The Atlético Nacional–América de Cali rivalry is a major rivalry involving Atlético Nacional from Medellín and América de Cali, two of the most popular and successful clubs in Colombian football. Dubbed by Colombian and international media as one of the most important clásicos or a "superclásico" of Colombian football,  and also known as the Clásico Popular ("People's Classic") since it involves the two Colombian clubs with the largest fanbases, this rivalry is also considered as an extension of the historical sociocultural and sporting rivalry between the Antioquia and Valle del Cauca departments, represented by Atlético Nacional and América, respectively.

This match gained importance starting from the decade of the 1980s, when both América de Cali and Atlético Nacional began to stand out both in local competition and continental tournaments. Both teams played the decisive final match in the 1981 and 1984 league tournaments, América won five league championships in a row between 1982 and 1986 and were Copa Libertadores runners-up for three years in a row between 1985 and 1987, whilst Nacional beat the Escarlatas to the domestic title in 1981 and became the first Colombian club to win the Copa Libertadores in 1989.

The two teams have faced each other in final stages 15 times and have played five league title-deciders between them: in 1981, 1984, 1991, 1999, and the 2002 Apertura, with Nacional winning three of these (1981, 1991, 1999) and América the remaining two.

History
These two clubs were founding members of the Colombian football championship, nowadays known as Categoría Primera A, and met for the first time in the 1948 Campeonato Profesional on 19 September 1948 in Cali, where the Valle del Cauca team beat their Antioquia counterpart (which at that time was called Atlético Municipal) by a 3–0 score with a brace by Chico Vásquez and another goal by Efraín "Caraña" González.

In 1954, Atlético Nacional won their first league title, officially lifting the trophy after beating América in Palmira by a 6–2 score on 10 October, the final day of the season. 20 years later in 1974, both teams met each other in the final stage of a championship for the first time ever, as they qualified for the final hexagonal of that year's league competition. Atlético Nacional ended as league runners-up behind Deportivo Cali, whilst América de Cali ended in bottom place, but in their direct matchups the Escarlata side got the edge over the Verdolaga one, winning 2–1 in Cali and tying 1–1 in Medellín.

In 1981, Atlético Nacional and América qualified for the final round of the Campeonato Profesional after finishing as runners-up of their respective semifinal groups, behind Atlético Junior and Deportes Tolima, and reached the final matchday on 20 December with chances to win the title, facing each other at the Estadio Atanasio Girardot. A win for Nacional would crown the Verdolagas as champions and would also deny América a runner-up finish and qualification for the Copa Libertadores. In turn, América required to win the match as well as a setback for Junior against Deportes Tolima in order to win the championship and qualify for the Copa Libertadores. A 26th-minute goal by Pedro Juan Ibargüen allowed Nacional to take the lead in the match, score that remained in place until the final minutes of the match when Nacional were awarded a penalty after a foul on César Cueto. América manager Gabriel Ochoa Uribe chose to withdraw his squad from the field of play in protest, and referee Efraín Otálora was left with no choice but to end the match, thus confirming Atlético Nacional's fourth league title.

The remainder of the 80s saw both teams become heavily involved in the title contention, with América going on to win five league titles in a row from 1982 to 1986 and clinching their fourth title in 1984 against Atlético Nacional by beating the Verdolagas on the last day of the season. In 1987, América once again beat Nacional on the final day of the season to end as season runners-up behind Millonarios and also deny the Antioquia side qualification for the 1988 Copa Libertadores. However, the rivalry was also tainted during this decade by the rising activities of drug cartels since Atlético Nacional and América were linked to the Medellín Cartel and Cali Cartel, respectively, which in turn came to be considered as a factor that influenced the meteoric growth in both on-field success and popularity of both clubs. As an example of this, prior to the opening match of the final stage of the 1981 championship played between both sides at Estadio Pascual Guerrero, a small plane overflew the place dropping leaflets announcing the creation of the paramilitary group Muerte a Secuestradores (Death to Kidnappers), or MAS for short.

The 1990s saw this rivalry become one of the most important matches in Colombian football, with games in Cali and Medellín being played with sold-out stadiums as fans picked sides between both teams, as well as the fact that the Nacional vs. América matches were often crucial to decide the champion. Throughout these 10 years, both Atlético Nacional and América won three league titles, with the Verdolaga winning the title against the Escarlata in 1991 and 1999, and América beating Nacional on the way to their seventh title in 1990. The decade also saw the first international matches between the two sides, as they crossed their paths twice in the 1991 Copa Libertadores with Nacional knocking América out in the quarter-finals, and also in 1992, in which the outcome favored América as they won both legs of their quarter-final tie. In 1999, the two sides played the final of that year's tournament, with Nacional claiming the league title on penalties after two draws in both legs of the final series.

The rivalry further consolidated at the dawn of the 21st century. In the 2002 Apertura tournament, which was the first title-awarding short tournament of Colombian football, América de Cali beat Atlético Nacional over two legs in the final series to claim their twelfth league title. Shortly after, the two teams faced each other in international competition in the 2002 Copa Sudamericana, with Nacional knocking out América by winning both legs of their preliminary round tie. The highest winning margin of the rivalry was set in 2006, as Atlético Nacional thrashed América de Cali in Medellín by a 6–0 score in the last round of the first stage of the 2006 Apertura tournament, and left the Escarlatas out of contention for that tournament's title.

The rivalry was weakened in the years immediately following América de Cali's relegation to Categoría Primera B in 2011, since América went on to spend five years in the second tier while at the same time Atlético Nacional embarked on a successful spree under the helm of managers Juan Carlos Osorio and Reinaldo Rueda, winning the Primera A tournament five times (the two tournaments of the 2013 season, the 2014 Apertura, the 2015 Finalización, and the 2017 Apertura), in addition to four Copas Colombia, the Superliga Colombiana twice, the 2016 Copa Libertadores and the 2017 Recopa Sudamericana. However, the rivalry resurfaced after América's promotion and return to Primera A in 2017, with Los Diablos Rojos winning back-to-back league titles in the 2019 Finalización and 2020 tournaments, knocking Atlético Nacional out on the way to the latter championship.

Records

 * Record wins
 * Atlético Nacional:
 * Home: Atlético Nacional 6–0 América de Cali, Estadio Atanasio Girardot, 21 May 2006
 * Away: América de Cali 2–6 Atlético Nacional, Estadio Francisco Rivera Escobar (Palmira), 10 October 1954
 * América de Cali:
 * Home: América de Cali 4–0 Atlético Nacional, Estadio Pascual Guerrero, 25 May 1997
 * Away: Atlético Nacional 0–3 América de Cali, Estadio Atanasio Girardot, 8 July 1962 Atlético Nacional 0–3 América de Cali, Estadio Atanasio Girardot, 28 November 2020