Who hasn’t heard about “El Clásico”? One of the most iconic derbies, which is fought between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. With an average audience of over 500 million viewers, “El Clásico,” is the most watched soccer match worldwide. This match is so popular because most people consider these two teams the best in the world. In 2014, Forbes ranked FC Barcelona and Real Madrid as the world’s two most valuable sports teams. Even though “El Clásico,” is between two Spanish teams, people around the world meet to watch this exciting game. Both of these clubs have an immense fanbase around the world. They are the world’s two most followed sports teams on social media.
The rivalry between these two great teams goes far beyond soccer. Surprisingly, the rivalry comes from politics. Can you believe it? Since Madrid and Barcelona are the two largest cities in Spain, they are sometimes identified with opposing political positions. FC Barcelona is viewed as the representative of Catalan Nationalism, while Real Madrid is viewed as representative of Spanish Nationalism.
During the last years, the rivalry between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid has increased due to the two best soccer players, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, who each had been playing for the opposite team. On one hand, Messi started his professional career in FC Barcelona in 2004. On the other hand, Cristiano Ronaldo was transferred from Machester Utd. to Real Madrid FC in 2009. They both grew in popularity, and each of them started accomplishing numerous achievements for their teams. These two players were one of the reasons why “El Clásico” match was so desired.
“El Clásico” matches have been played 273 times!! While Real Madrid was victorious in 99 of those matches, FC Barcelona was victorious in 113 matches. There have been 61 draws in “El Clásico” matches.
There are some iconic dates in “El Clásico” history. We can’t forget the 11-1 match where Real Madrid destroyed FC Barcelona in 1943, or one of the recent ones, where Barcelona destroyed 5-0 Real Madrid in 2010. The top goalscorer in “El Clásico” matches is Leo Messi with 26 goals in total. What a beast! In the second place, we have Alfredo Di Stéfano and Cristiano Ronaldo with a tie of 18 goals.
This week will be a historic date in Soccer history. “El Clásico” will be played twice this week. One match will be on February 27th, 2019, and it will be for the Semi-final of the Copa del Rey. The other match will be on Saturday, March 2nd, 2019, and it will be for La Liga competition. Which team do you think is better? Which team do you think will win these two exciting matches?
