Nine key stats regarding the rivalry between Barcelona and Real Madrid…
Barcelona take on Real Madrid tonight, with both teams coming into El Clasico in red hot form. The Catalans are unbeaten and yet to concede a goal during their current league campaign, while Madrid have won their last five matches, scoring 25 goals in the process.
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Madrid showed their quality as they ruthlessly dispatched Liverpool in the Champions League on Wednesday, and now sit top of their European group with three wins out of three. Barcelona beat Ajax 3-1 in their last outing, and sit second behind PSG.
Earlier today, BBC Sport revealed nine surprising stats relating to Europe’s biggest fixture, which are now counted down for you here on CaughtOffside:
Barcelona & Real Madrid meetings: 228
Saturday’s Clasico will be the 229th competitive meeting between the teams in all competitions, with Real holding an overall 91-89 lead, while 48 games have been drawn.
Cost of two squads: £639m
With mega-money signings such as Ronaldo, James Rodriguez, Neymar and a certain Suarez on show, the latest edition of El Clasico will be the most expensive game of football ever played – and that is even without injured £85m man Gareth Bale.
People watching around the world: 500m
The global television audience for Saturday’s game will be colossal, with estimates placing the number of worldwide viewers between 400 and 500 million.
Number of La Liga goals scored by Lionel Messi: 250
Lionel Messi’s left-footed strike in Saturday’s 3-0 victory over Eibar took him to the milestone of 250 career goals in La Liga, leaving the Barcelona man just one behind the record held by 1940s Athletic Bilbao star Telmo Zarra.
Number of La Liga hat-tricks by Cristiano Ronaldo: 22
With 15 strikes to his name, Ronaldo has registered more goals in the opening eight rounds of the season than any other player in La Liga history, a feat all the more remarkable for the fact that he missed one of those games – a 4-2 defeat against Real Sociedad. Ronaldo’s three hat-tricks this term have taken his career La Liga tally of trebles to 22, putting him joint level at the top of the pile with Zarra and Alfredo Di Stefano.
Minutes since Claudio Bravo conceded a goal: 720
Barca goalkeeper Claudio Bravo, it is fair to say, has made a decent impression since signing from Real Sociedad in the summer. The Chile international has not conceded a single goal in 720 minutes of La Liga action, setting a new Spanish football record for consecutive clean sheets at the start of a season.
New signings that could play tonight: 8
Both clubs were active in the transfer market this summer and at least seven players (plus one coach) are set to appear in the hothouse atmosphere of El Clasico for the very first time. The most high-profile debutant, naturally, is Suarez, but there will also be important roles all over the pitch for team-mates and fellow summer signings Bravo, Jeremy Mathieu and Ivan Rakitic, while homegrown youngsters Munir El Haddadi, Sandro and Rafinha could appear from the bench.
Number of Barcelona fans at the Bernabeu: 500
Barcelona will face a decidedly hostile atmosphere inside the Bernabeu, with only 500 of their supporters tucked away in a corner high inside the grand old stadium. The small allocation made available to the visitors is nothing unusual because Spanish football simply does not have a culture of fans travelling to away games.
If Barcelona win they will be: 7 points clear
he game has major significance to the Spanish title race, with Barca coming into the match four points clear of the hosts and therefore knowing they can open up a seven-point gap with a win. Considering how few points both teams will probably drop over the course of the campaign, that would be a significant margin and leave Real as big outsiders – even in October.
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