Real Madrid and Barcelona will clash in La Liga for the first time since April on Saturday, in what is a ‘must-win’ match for Zinedine Zidane’s side if they wish to keep the title race alive.
Since losing to Real in the Supercopa de Espana at the start of the campaign, the Catalans have roared ahead of their fierce rivals and currently sit 11 points clear at the summit of La Liga; having played one game more than Los Blancos.
Saturday’s lunchtime encounter will be the 175th competitive Clasico in La Liga. As things stand, Real have a slight edge when it comes to the head-to-head in the league, but it is extremely tight: Madrid 72 wins compared to Barca’s 69 with 33 draws overall.
Here are some of their best Clasicos from recent years that have been played at the Bernabeu.
5. Real Madrid 4-2 Barcelona, 2005
Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo headed Madrid to a 2-0 lead within the first 20 minutes at the Bernabeu in the 150th league Clásico. Despite a period of precarious play, Madrid stunned Barcelona with a third goal on the stroke of half time when Raul turned home a low cross to make it 3-1 after Samuel Eto’o had pulled one back.
Michael Owen met David Beckham’s pass and drilled in Madrid’s fourth on the night against the league leaders. Ronaldinho’s late strike proved to be merely a consolation goal, as Madrid reduced Barcelona’s lead to just six points with seven games left to play.
However, Madrid failed to win the league as Barcelona managed to fend off their fierce rivals and lift the title for the 17th time.
4. Real Madrid 0-4 Barcelona, 2015
Barcelona claimed the first Clasico spoils of the season with an emphatic 4-0 victory over Real Madrid at the home of their great rivals in 2015. From the first minute to the last, a below-par Madrid side were put to the sword as a Luis Suarez brace and goals from Neymar and Andres Iniesta sealed Barca’s 10th Clasico victory from in the last 15 meetings.
With an estimated global audience of 400m reportedly watching the highly anticipated fixture, Luis Enrique’s side put on a performance fitting of the game’s box-office billing, dominating a Real side who rarely threatened to test the league leaders.
3. Real Madrid 5-0 Barcelona, 1995
Barcelona had won four consecutive La Liga crowns prior to the 1995 season. This was the Barca team coached by Dutch legend Johan Cruyff that had taken the world by storm and had sown the seeds for their unique style of ‘tiki-taka’ football which would emerge over the next two decades. Real welcomed their rivals to the Bernabeu looking to end Barca’s dominance in La Liga.
Barcelona’s side of stars was now falling apart and this capitulation of the squad coincided with the rise of Madrid. Youngsters like Raul and Fernando Hierro were set to take the stage by storm and go on to dominate world football.
Zamorano scored a hat trick, with goals from Amavisca and Luis Enrique – who would go on to play for the Blaugrana in later years – completing the rout. Madrid went on to win La Liga that season to end Barca’s dominance; the Catalans finishing a disappointing fourth.
2. Real Madrid 3-4 Barcelona, 2014
Another fantastic Clasico. Andres Iniesta fired Barcelona into the lead, but Real Madrid went 2-1 up thanks to a brace from Karim Benzema.
Lionel Messi had received criticism that season for a number of ‘average’ performances, but showed the world exactly what he was capable of with a dominant display and a goal that drew the side level before half-time. His hat-trick – a second in as many matches – took him to 21 goals against Real Madrid.
Carlo Ancelotti’s men would take the lead once more in the second half through Ronaldo, but when Ramos saw red Barcelona were able to take both the lead and the victory with Messi scoring twice from the spot.
1. Real Madrid 2-6 Barcelona, 2009
In 2009, a Pep Guardiola led Barcelona sealed the treble of La Liga, Copa del Rey and Champions League as well as this historic victory. With just four matches of the season remaining Barcelona comfortably dispatched Juande Ramos’ side.
Seventeen wins in 18 matches had propelled Madrid into very late contention for the title, but a win for Barcelona put them seven points clear at the top of the table.Two goals from Thierry Henry, two from Lionel Messi, and one apiece from centre-back pairing Carlos Puyol and Gerard Pique gave Real Madrid one of their most embarrassing defeats in the club’s history.
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