JUMP TO:
Matches between Real Madrid and Barcelona are always the biggest dates on the Spanish football calendar with the two grandest clubs in La Liga battling out some memorable contests over the years.
Despite no longer boasting the iconic Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo matchup, the fixture still includes some of the biggest names in world football and regularly sees the two teams competing for the biggest prizes. The likes of Lamine Yamal, Kylian Mbappe, and Vinicius Jr. are amongst the litany of top global stars involved.
In 2022/23, these teams met five times across the season as Barcelona lifted the league title and defeated their rivals in the Supercopa de Espana final, while Madrid got their revenge by winning the two-legged Copa del Rey semifinal tie. Last year, Real Madrid did the La Liga and Champions League double and beat Barcelona all three times in the process of completing a clean sweep.
Barcelona would get off to a strong start this season, winning the initial La Liga meeting emphatically by a 4-0 score in late October. The two met once again in a quite extraordinary Supercopa de Espana final on January 12 in Riyadh, and the Copa del Rey final produced another memorable encounter.
MORE: How Barca won an incredible Copa del Rey final over furious Real Madrid
Real Madrid vs. Barcelona history: Clasico rivalry explained
Real Madrid and Barcelona’s rivalry goes beyond sporting matters, although it has taken particular prominence this century as they are the dominant forces in Spanish football and frequently challenging for the UEFA Champions League.
The cities of Madrid and Barcelona have something of an historic animosity for political reasons. As the region’s biggest and most famous city, Barcelona has long been synonymous Catalonia and its identity, whereas Madrid, Spain’s capital, has much stronger ties to the nation’s government and royal family. The suppression of regional languages and identities during the Franco dictatorship in the 20th century inflamed tensions between the two cities.
Today, Real Madrid and Barca are arguably the most famous club soccer teams in the world and have dominated the Spanish football landscape for the past 20 years in particular. They are by a distance the most successful clubs in the country, and they boast 20 European Cup/Champions League trophies between them (Real Madrid are the competition record-holders with 15 titles).
El Clasico all-time head to head
In total, Real Madrid and Barcelona have met 261 times in competitive matches. The all-time head to head could hardly be closer: Madrid have 106 wins, Barca have 104, and 52 games have ended in a draw.
Who has won the most El Clasico matches — Real Madrid or Barcelona?
| Competition | Matches | Real Madrid wins | Barcelona wins | Draws |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| La Liga | 191 | 80 | 76 | 35 |
| Copa del Rey | 38 | 13 | 17 | 8 |
| Copa de La Liga | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Supercopa de Espana | 18 | 10 | 6 | 2 |
| Copa de la Coronacion | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Champions League | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| Total | 262 | 106 | 104 | 52 |
El Clasico record wins
The biggest margin of victory in El Clasico came in a Copa del Rey game back in 1943, when Real Madrid defeated Barcelona 11-1.
Barca’s biggest win in this fixture came seven years later, when they beat Los Blancos 7-2.
The highest-scoring match was in 1916, when the teams played out a 6-6 draw.
| Date | Match | Competition |
|---|---|---|
| June 19, 1943 | Real Madrid 11–1 Barcelona | Copa del Rey |
| Feb. 3, 1935 | Real Madrid 8–2 Barcelona | La Liga |
| Sep. 24, 1950 | Barcelona 7–2 Real Madrid | La Liga |
| May 19, 1957 | Barcelona 6–1 Real Madrid | Copa del Rey |
| Sep. 18, 1949 | Real Madrid 6–1 Barcelona | La Liga |
Has Real Madrid or Barcelona won more trophies?
Real Madrid have won 106 trophies to Barcelona’s 102. These figures include competitions that no longer operate, such as the Copa de la Liga and the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.
| Real Madrid trophy wins | Competition | Barcelona trophy wins |
| 36 | La Liga | 28 |
| 20 | Copa del Rey | 32 |
| 13 | Supercopa de Espana | 15 |
| 1 | Copa Eva Duarte* | 3 |
| 1 | Copa de la Liga* | 2 |
| 15 | European Cup/UCL | 5 |
| 0 | Cup Winners’ Cup* | 4 |
| 2 | UEFA Cup/UEL | 0 |
| 6 | UEFA Super Cup | 5 |
| 0 | Inter-Cities Fairs Cup* | 3 |
| 2 | Latin Cup* | 2 |
| 1 | Ibero-American Cup* | 0 |
| 3 | Intercontinental Cup* | 0 |
| 5 | FIFA Club World Cup | 3 |
| 1 | FIFA Intercont’l Cup | 0 |
| 106 | TOTAL | 102 |
*Competition no longer operates
El Clasico all-time records
Top goal-scorer in El Clasico
| Player | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| Lionel Messi | Barcelona | 26 |
| Alfredo Di Stefano | Real Madrid | 18 |
| Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid | 18 |
| Karim Benzema | Real Madrid | 16 |
| Raul Gonzalez | Real Madrid | 15 |
| Cesar Rodriguez | Barcelona | 14 |
| Francisco Gento | Real Madrid | 14 |
| Ferenc Puskas | Real Madrid | 14 |
Most appearances in El Clasico
| Player | Club | Appearances |
|---|---|---|
| Sergio Busquets | Barcelona | 48 |
| Lionel Messi | Barcelona | 45 |
| Sergio Ramos | Real Madrid | 45 |
| Karim Benzema | Real Madrid | 43 |
| Francisco Gento | Real Madrid | 42 |
| Manuel Sanchis | Real Madrid | 42 |
| Xavi Hernandez | Barcelona | 42 |
Most hat-tricks scored in El Clasico
| Player | Club | No. of hat-tricks |
|---|---|---|
| Santiago Bernabeu | Real Madrid | 2 (Both in 1916 Copa del Rey) |
| Jaime Lazcano | Real Madrid | 2 (1929/30 La Liga & 1934/35 La Liga) |
| Ferenc Puskas | Real Madrid | 2 (1962/63 La Liga & 1963/64 La Liga) |
| Lionel Messi | Barcelona | 2 (2006/07 La Liga & 2013/14 La Liga) |
Coaches with most wins in El Clasico
| Coach | Club | Games | Wins |
| Miguel Munoz | Real Madrid | 36 | 16 |
| Johan Cruyff | Barcelona | 25 | 9 |
| Pep Guardiola | Barcelona | 15 | 9 |
| Carlo Ancelotti | Real Madrid | 20 | 9 |
| Terry Venables | Barcelona | 12 | 6 |
| Zinedine Zidane | Real Madrid | 11 | 6 |
