I breathed Boca and River Plate up close and it blows Celtic and Rangers' atmosphere kings claim out the water

Two epic derbies, two weeks and 7000 miles apart.

And both times I found myself perched on a sofa cursing the fact I was missing out, trapped on the wrong side of the Atlantic. In Rio de Janeiro, it was an early start - a little too early given some over-indulgence with the local Brahma brew the night before - as myself and two mates dragged ourselves up at 8am to tune into the Old Firm battle kicking off back home in Glasgow.

The sun had barely crept over the horizon off the Copacabana as Daizen Maeda put Celtic in front against Rangers. But it wasn’t long before the 3-3 thriller shook any remaining jet lag from the system. Normally, I’d have been there to witness the all-important Ibrox showdown live as part of my duties for Record Sport, blessed to have a job the comes with front-row access when the rivals go head to head.

But a lads’ dream trip to South America meant I’d given up my seat in the press gantry for a clash that will go down as one for the ages, watching instead in an AirBnB three streets back from Rio’s famed beach front on a stream every bit as temperamental as the two defences. It was a holiday years in the planning, conjured up as one last adventure before we all turned 40.

Five days in Brazil, followed by a week in Buenos Aires - with as much soccer, scran and cervezas as we could stomach. Had the famously haphazard Argentine schedulers been quicker announcing their dates, we’d have extended the getaway for a few more days in an attempt to catch last Sunday’s Superclassico between Boca Juniors and River Plate.

As it was, we were back in Blighty, slumped on the couch as the BA giants went face to face in a domestic cup quarter-final. It was another fire-cracker encounter, edged 3-2 by a Boca side who