Sunday’s El Clasico is as hotly anticipated a clash between the two giants of the Spanish game as there has been in recent memory with the LaLiga title potentially being decided, however there are a number of statistics behind the match that help set the stage for such an encounter.
Real Madrid and Barcelona have been competing with each other for 115 years with the teams having battled on 233 official occasions.
Of those matches, 93 have been won by Los Blancos while Los Cules have emerged victorious 91 times.
There have been 49 draws between the two teams and a 50th on Sunday would see the LaLiga title race swing hugely in the favour of Zinedine Zidane’s team.
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have defined an era with it often seen as a direct battle between the two individuals rather than the squads themselves.
On that note it is actually the Argentine forward who is the top scorer in El Clasico history with his record setting tally of 21 goals.
With the Blaugrana having scored a grand total of 372 goals against their fierce rivals, the 29-year-old is responsible for just under 5.7% of these goals.
Neymar’s expected absence places much of the visitor’s hopes on the La Masia graduate to conjure up a moment of magic to help decide the match, yet this is a point of concern given his recent record.
Since his hat-trick on March 23, 2014, he hasn’t netted a single goal against Real in the five subsequent games.
Zidane will be looking to end a poor run for the hosts as Los Blancos have only actually won three Clasico’s at home since the 2008/09 season.
Of the 13 matches played at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in that time the Catalan side has actually recorded seven victories.
Physicality is a factor that is usually reserved for lively top of the table clashes in the Premier League, however it could have a bearing on Sunday’s result in the Spanish capital.
Headed goals are a key feature of Real’s attack with 37 of them being scored thus far this campaign.
In comparison Barcelona fall woefully short with their tally of 14 nowhere near that of their opponents.
Given that Ronaldo is in such phenomenal form heading into the fixture, with the Portuguese forward scoring five goals over the two matches against Bayern Munich, it would be worthwhile for the Blaugrana to work diligently at stopping crosses being sent into their penalty area.
