Leo has 12 assists in 28 career games versus Real Madrid
The FC Barcelona star has shown he’s more than just a great scorer
7 assists in 8 games
This season Leo Messi has continued to be a deft passer, currently leading La Liga in assists with 7 in 8 matches.
There has been plenty of talk this season about Leo Messi‘s passing prowess, but a quick peek at the stats show that it’s nothing new. It seems as if his eye-popping goal scoring numbers have eclipsed his almost-as-impressive role in dishing out assists. The stats don’t lie here, folks. While he is, in fact, the all-time leader in El Clasico goals, he also has 12 assists in 28 career games versus Real Madrid.
12 assists to 8 different scorers
The dozen assists Leo has handed out against Madrid have gone to a virtual who’s who list of superstars including Samuel Eto’o, Thierry Henry, David Villa, Andres Iniesta, Alexis Sanchez, Eric Abidal, Pedro Rodriguez and Cesc Fabregas. The very first went to Eto’o on 19 November, 2005 when Messi was just 18 years old. The most recent was last season, with Iniesta as the beneficiary.
Villa a favourite target
When he played for Barça, Villa was assisted three times versus Real Madrid. Two were at the Camp Nou in a 5-0 victory in 2010/11 and one was at the Bernabeu in the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup in 2011.
A catalyst in historic routs
Two of Barça’s biggest El Clasico victories in recent memory also bear Messi’s fingerprints. Aside from the aforementioned Villa goals in that 5-0 thrashing, Leo fed a pair of assists to Henry in a 6-2 dismantling at Madrid in 2008/09. The Argentine also scored two himself that memorable evening.
[+] Check out all of Leo Messi’s goals at the Santiago Bernabeu in this exclusive video.
