The world’s two finest footballers were at their brilliant best for Real Madrid and Barcelona on Sunday, and will provide the spark for a fixture fast losing its spectacular shine
There are few sporting occasions on the planet which evoke as much excitement and anticipation as the El Clasico between Real Madrid and Barcelona.
For decades the intrigue surrounding these games has spread much wider than Castilla and Catalonia, and when Los Blancos host La Blaugrana at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday, close to half a billion people will be watching across all corners of the globe.
Cristiano continued his superb start to 2013 with a ‘perfect’ hat-trick against Getafe on Sunday, netting a left-footed angled drive after Sergio Ramos had given Madrid the lead, before adding a brilliant header and a penalty with his right to make it 10 goals in 2013 already.
Messi managed one more versus Osasuna as he surpassed 200 league goals with Barcelona and became the first player to net in 11 consecutive Liga matches as Barca beat the northerners 5-1 later on Sunday, albeit after a controversial call by the referee had left the visitors with 10 men on just 26 minutes as Alejandro Arribas was shown a second yellow card for a handball in the area which looked anything but deliberate.
In his 32 games for Madrid, meanwhile, Ronaldo has 33 but is one ahead of his counterpart for 2013, and both players approach Wednesday’s Clasico at the pinnacle of their fabulous form.
The two rivals dominated the last meeting between Barca and Madrid with two goals apiece in an entertaining 2-2 draw at Camp Nou back in October, which left pundits purring over the prodigious pair.
- Real Madrid has failed to win its last three matches in all competitions, which is its longest win-less streak since May 2011.
- Defeat at Getafe condemned Los Blancos to their worst start to a season since 1973.
- The Castilian giants have failed to register a home win against Barcelona in their last seven attempts across all competitions.
- Madrid’s last victory over their arch-rival at the Bernabeu was a 4-1 success in La Liga in May 2008.
- Barcelona is facing Real Madrid for the 221st time in official competitions. Each clubs has 87 wins to its name.
- If the Catalan side wins on Wednesday, it will be leading the head-to-head series for the first time in 80 years.
- Lionel Messi has registered five times in his last three games for Barca, making this his best ever start to a season.
- The Argentine forward is the last player to score a hat trick in a Clasico, which he did in the 3-3 draw at Camp Nou in March 2007.