The El Clasico is any football match between two Spanish giants "Real Madrid & Barcelona", and in this thread we will review this historic fixture and what makes it so interesting.
How well do you know about the EL CLASSICO??
El Clásico has been around for over a hundred years, and is one of the most exciting soccer games to watch, not only because of the passion its sure to bring, but because of its history as well.
This Sunday, Real Madrid will host Barcelona in the first El Clásico of the season. Let’s take a look back at how this craziness started, and some of the facts behind the famous matchup between Real Madrid and Barcelona.
The first ever LaLiga El Clásico was played in February 1929.
The first time the two teams ever met to play each other was in 1902. But the first League El Clásico was in 1929. It was played in Barcelona at their Les Colts stadium, but the Barcelona fans had to endure their first El Clásico loss when Real Madrid beat them 2-1.
They got the last word though, winning the reverse fixture 1-0 and thus the first LaLiga title.
The name “El Clásico” now refers to any game between Madrid and Barcelona.
Originally, the term was used for league matches between the two Spanish teams, but now, it has grown to refer to any time the two teams meet, including championship games.
There have been a combined total of 283 El Clásicos and Barca leads in wins
There have been 249 competitive matches and 34 exhibition matches between Madrid and Barcelona. Of the 249 competitive matches, Real Madrid has won the most, with 100 wins to Barca’s 97 (and 52 ties).
Barcelona has more wins in exhibition matches with 20 to Madrid’s four (and 10 ties). In total matches, Barcelona leads the way with 115 wins to Madrid’s 104 (and 62 ties).
The top scorer in El Clásico is Lionel Messi
Though we no longer get to see the Messi/Ronaldo face-off, their legends live on.
Messi is still the top goal scorer in El Clásico games with 26 goals. Behind him are Alfredo Di Stefano and Cristiano Ronaldo, tied with 18.
Messi, whose 17-year Barça career ended when he departing for Paris Saint-Germain in 2021, leads the table with 26 goals. Those goals – 18 in LaLiga, six in the Spanish Super Cup, two in Europe – came over the record total of 45 fixtures that the Argentine striker played following his first game against Madrid in November 2005.
Surprisingly, however, Messi’s final goal against Los Blancos came a full three years before he left Barça, in a 2-2 draw in LaLiga in May 2018. He failed to find the net in any of his last seven appearances against Madrid.
Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) – 18 goals
Cristiano Ronaldo also no longer plays a part in this fixture, having spent nine glorious seasons opposite Messi as one half of the game’s greatest individual duel.
During this time at Real Madrid, CR7 played in 29 Clásicos, netting 18 goals. Both he and Messi’s last Clásico goal both came in that 2-2 LaLiga fixture in May, 2018. He was never able to bag a hat-trick in the fixture, unlike Messi, who has two Clásico hat-tricks to his name.
Alfredo di Stéfano (Real Madrid) – 18 goals
Arguably the club’s greatest player, Alfredo di Stéfano remains Madrid’s leading goalscorer in the history of the Clásico alongside Cristiano Ronaldo. Some onlookers would also point to the fact that the Spanish Super Cup - in which Messi scored six - wasn’t in existence before 1982.
Many fans argue that Cristiano Ronaldo would have surpassed Messi if he had continued playing for Madrid.
Messi also leads in assists with 14, and is tied for most hat-tricks (two). The current active player with the most goals is Madrid’s Karim Benzema with 11 total, ninth overall scorer in El Clásico matchups.
Lionel Messi and Sergio Ramos have the most appearances
Ramos for Real Madrid and Messi for Barcelona are tied for the most appearances in El Clásico games at 45.
The biggest win ever was Real Madrid 11-1 Barcelona.
In June 1943, one of the craziest El Clásicos happened when Madrid beat Barcelona 11-1 in the second leg of the Copa del Generalísmo. Barcelona had beaten Madrid 3-1 in Barcelona in the first leg and came into the game feeling confident.
But suddenly, Barca was down 8-0 at the half, and Madrid added three more in the second to give us this bizarre final score. Some say this is when the real rivalry began.
El Clásico is also known for its goal celebrations
El Clásico has had some memorable goal celebrations, often throwing it in the opposition’s face. For example, in 2017, Messi scored a game-winner in the 93rd minute against Madrid and celebrated by taking off his Barca shirt and holding it up to the fans, showing his name and number on the jersey.
In August of that same year, Ronaldo scored against Madrid in the 80th minute, and did the same, taking off his shirt and holding it up to the Barca fans to see his name and number.
Other facts you should know;
- In the El Classico, Real Madrid has scored 458 goals while Barcelona has scored 492 goals.
- Ansu Fati is the youngest goal scorer in the El classico. He broke the record previously held by Vinicius Jnr. when he netted a goal against Los Blancos at just 17years 359 days old.
- Alfredo Di Stefano is the oldest goal scorer in the El classico. He was 37 years 164 days when he scored on 15th December 1963.
- Karim Benzema scored the fastest goal in El classico history when he found the net as early as 21 seconds after kick off.
- The biggest Classico win for Barcelona is 5-0 while the biggest Classico win for Real Madrid is 11-1.
- El classico has been played eight times in the history of champions league..Real Madrid has won 3, Barcelona has 2 wins and both teams drew thrice.
- Some notable players to have played for both clubs include; Luis Figo, Ronaldo Nazario, Bernd Schuster, Samuel Eto'o, Julen Lopetegui, Luis Enrique e.t.c.
