TheSportsRush brings ‘Stats 1 to 10,’ where we look at the upcoming La Liga heavyweight clash between Barcelona and Real Madrid.
This weekend of La Liga will see the two heavyweights of Spanish football, Barcelona and Real Madrid lock horns. The season’s first El Clasico will be played at Camp Nou.
However, this time around, the situation is a bit underwhelming for both the clubs.
Even when Barcelona are at the top of the table, the side has scored only 18 points from their 9 games in the league. The Catalan giants also endured a four-game winless run in the league, which included a loss to the-then bottom placed Leganes in September.
Real Madrid, meanwhile, are 7th in the league, and the void left by Cristiano Ronaldo looks too big to fill for Lopetegui. The side broke an unwanted record for the longest goalless run across all competitions in club’s history this season. Real Madrid lost their last La Liga game 2-1 to Levante at Santiago Bernabeu.
Speculations over Lopetegui’s job are increasing by the day, and a loss to Barcelona could well be the final nail on the coffin.
TheSportsRush takes a look at stats 1-10, as the two giants meet each other at Camp Nou.
Stats 1-10
1 – Since taking over Barcelona, Ernesto Valverde has won only one El Clasico with the side in four matches.
2 – Lionel Messi is the only active player in football who has scored two hattricks (which is also the highest) in El Clasico.
3 – A third of the total number of goals since Messi or Ronaldo last missed the El Clasico i.e. since 2007, have been scored by Messi and Ronaldo.
4 – Both the sides have had a rather dismal run which lasted four matches this season. While Real Madrid failed to score in four consecutive games across competitions, Barcelona were winless for four games in La Liga.
5 – Barcelona holds the record for the most games (5) without conceding a single goal to Real Madrid.
6 – However, both the sides have registered most consecutive wins over each other in the El Clasico. (6)
7 – Real Madrid’s coveted number 7, Cristiano Ronaldo holds the record for best consecutive goal-scoring run in El Clasico. He scored 7 goals in 6 games.
8 – Since the turn of the century, it has been only once when El Clasico saw 8 goals in a game. It happened in 2009 when Barcelona crushed Real Madrid 6-2.
9 – Ronaldo scored 9 goals for Real Madrid in all the El Clasico fixtures in La Liga. However, after his departure, Karim Benzema is currently the highest goalscorer in the current Real Madrid line-up, with 6, which leads us to the next stat.
10 – Lionel Messi is the highest goal-scorer in the history of El Clasico in the league. (18)
