El Clasico is a highly rated football game between Spanish and Europes two biggest clubs, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. The name ‘El Clasico’ referred to only League games between the two but nowadays, it has been generalised in all competitions. Here are stats, head-to-head and facts you really need to know about the greatest rivalry of all time. ENJOY!
* El Clasico is the greatest rivalry in the history of football.
* Apart from the highly-anticipated Uefa Champions League final, El Clasico is the biggest and most followed club match in the world.
* The first ever El Clasico was in 1906, long before La liga started and Barca won the game 3-1
* There have been a total of 260 meetings between the two, 227 of which are official.
* Real Madrid leads with most official wins with 91 to Barcelona’s 88. There have been 48 draws.
* However, Barcelona have the edge in overall encounters with 107 wins to Madrid’s 95, with 58 draws.
* Both clubs are the top two richest clubs in the world, ranked 1st and 2nd in Uefa Clubs Coefficient and posses the two best Soccer players in the world in Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
* Along with Athletic Bilbao, Real and Barca are the only clubs in La liga to have never been relegated.
* Real Madrid was founded by two Catalans. Juan and Carlos Padros.
* Both teams have never met in the UCL final.
* Although the rivalry may be fierce, 33 players have played for both teams.
* Real Madrid’s Manuel Sanchis has the most Clasico appearance with 43. Barcelona’s highest is Xavi with 40.
* Lionel Messi is the top scorer with 21 goals in 28 games.
* He is also the youngest player to score a hat-trick in this fixture.
* The biggest ever result was in 1943, when Real defeated Barca 11-1 in the General Cup.
* Barcelona have beaten Madrid 5-0 on 4 occasions, with their biggest win being a 7-2 triumph on 24 September, 1950
* Real Madrid have the most consecutive wins after winning 6 games in a row between 22 February, 1962 to 28 February 1965. Barca’s best is 5 wins from 25 January, 1948 to 15 January 1949 and 13 December, 2008 to 29 November, 2010.
* In total, Barcelona have scored 451 goals compared to Real Madrid’s 426
* Cristiano Ronaldo is the player to have scored in the most consecutive El Clasico after scoring in 6 straight games
* The longest unbeaten run is 13 games, held by Barca from 1 November, 1917 to 3 June, 1928. Real’s best is 10 games from 31 January, 1931 to 3 February, 1935