The eyes of the footballing world will be on the Nou Camp on Saturday as Spanish football’s eternal rivals meet in the biggest derby in football — El Clasico.
Barcelona and Real Madrid have met 264 times since their first clash in 1929 (Real won 2–1 that day), with many of their matches passing into history.
To mark Saturday’s game, we’ve taken a look at some of the great moments and matches that make up football’s most anticipated match.
Figo and the pig’s head
Former Barcelona star Luis Figo was loved at the Nou Camp — which made his move to Real Madrid all the more emotional.
Figo had spent five years as a Barca player, but surprisingly accepted a contract from Real Madrid after they met his $60.1m release clause in 2000, shortly before he won the Ballon d’Or later that year.
When he returned to the Nou Camp as a Real player he was mercilessly taunted throughout, with missiles, lighters, coins and bottles thrown at him as Barca fans condemned the man they now saw as a traitor.
One of the more surprising items thrown was a pig’s head, pictured next to Figo as he waited to take a corner. The image, and the passion from the fans, sums up the intensity involved in El Clasico.
Ronaldinho’s masterclass
While rivalry between the teams means fans often don’t appreciate the other side, the opposite happened when Barca visited the Bernabeu in 2005.
Ronaldinho signed for Barcelona in 2003, and was swiftly making his mark as one of the best footballers in the world. The Brazilian helped Barca to the title in 2004/05, and was named World Player of the Year for 2004. By the time his Barca side travelled to Madrid in November 2005, it was fair to say he was the leading player worldwide, and he proved it in a virtuoso display.
Up against a Galacticos side including some of the greatest players of all time, Ronaldinho put in an incredible performance, filled with moments of wizardry.
Having scored twice, and dominated the biggest game in club football, Ronaldinho was treated to the rarest of things — a standing ovation from Real fans who were marvelling at his brilliance.
Final of the bottles
Anger and missiles from Barca and Madrid fans during Clasicos is hardly a new thing — it’s been going on for decades.
In 1968, with tension between the two clubs at it’s peak, they met in the Copa del Generalisimo final at the Bernabeu.
1–0 down, and angry with the refereeing decisions, Real fans began throwing glass bottles onto the pitch, aiming for the referee and Barcelona players.
Bottles rained down, even after the match was finished, and General Franco handed Barca the cup surrounded by bottles — leading to the ‘Final of the bottles’ name being created.
Bale seals Madrid win
When Gareth Bale became the most expensive footballer of all time, he was signed by Real to make the difference in big games, and there aren’t many bigger than a cup final against Barcelona.
With the game at the Mestalla deadlocked at 1–1 with a few minutes to go, it seemed the 2014 Copa del Rey final was heading for extra time — but not if Bale could help it.
Picking the ball up inside his own half, the Welshman tore past Marc Barta (at one point running off the pitch), using his supreme speed and skill to drive into the box.
Skipping past challenge after challenge, Bale kept going, before finishing cooly to seal the win, and the cup.
Bale’s goal will surely go down as one of the best in El Clasico history.
Real come from behind
Last season saw two very different El Clasico matches — the first saw Barca destroy Real 4–0 at the Bernabeu (with Andres Iniesta given a standing ovation from the Madridistas), before a come-from-behind win for Real at the Nou Camp.
Already well behind in the league after the disastrous reign of Rafa Benitez, Real and new manager Zinedine Zidane travelled to Catalunya needing a win to keep any hopes of winning La Liga alive.
Those hopes looked even less likely when Gerard Pique opened the scoring in the 56th minute, as Barca looked set for a third Clasico win on the spin.
Playing on the break against a team including Messi, Suarez and Neymar, Real found it tough, but got an equaliser through a Karim Benzema scissor kick. However, with 7 minutes left, captain Sergio Ramos was dismissed for a second yellow, and Barca looked the more likely winner.
Incredibly, just a minute after that, Real broke forwards, and Cristiano Ronaldo got on the end of a Bale cross to put Madrid 2–1 up with just a matter of minutes left, a goal that ended Barcelona’s 39 match unbeaten streak in the league.
While Real weren’t able to go on and wrest the title off Barcelona, that most recent El Clasico win helped restore belief to Real, and they finished the season as European champions.
