Here, we’ll list all the achievements in El Clasico‘s history over the past 120 years, starting in 1902. Trophies and goals aside, the first El Clasico is always full of little stories. The Clasico has only been considered in the Spanish league. Still, over the years, El Clasico has also been considered in other competitions such as the Champions League, Copa del Rey, etc. The rivalry escalated in 2011 when Barcelona and Real Madrid had to meet four times in 18 days due to club meetings in the Copa del Rey final and the Champions League.
In the 2002 UEFA Champions League semi-finals, the two clubs met when Real Madrid beat Barcelona 2-0 and drew 1-1 in Madrid, giving Real Madrid an aggregate win. Barcelona turned the table and won the 2010-11 Champions League semi-finals, the first time these two clubs met in the Champions League since 2002. The two outstanding figures have achieved this in all competitions, not only in La Liga but also in the Spanish Cup Finals, Champions League semi-finals, and even El Clasico in the summer, while the Super Cup is regular. Barcelona has won the Copa del Rey 12 times more than Real Madrid, and you can see their recent strength is not far behind in the Club World Cup, which started in 2000.
The El Clasico matches of 1934-35 were extraordinary: Barça won 5-0 at Barcelona’s Les Corts stadium before Real Madrid turned the tables with a stunning 8-2 win at Chamartin. El Clasico energised not only the Clasico but all of football. Both sides have taken El Clasico to a new level of world attention.
Despite the two teams coming from different cities, it was still known as a derby and not an El Clasico. Most of the first matches between the two teams were friendly as La Liga had not yet been formed, and the only national competition was the Copa del Rey. Over time, the first El Clasico became more regular, especially after the founding of La Liga in 1929.
Since then, the clubs have met 272 times before completing the Catalan capital. A combination of a long history of rivalry with each other, the politics that inevitably determines the evolution of individual clubs and fan bases, and the fact that the two clubs have historically been constant rivals all played a part in Barcelona’s development against Real Madrid. The overall head-to-head record between the teams has been extremely tight, and with the win, Real Madrid is 15 points ahead of Barcelona in La Liga.
Real Madrid leads head-to-head matches with 100 wins against FC Barcelona in competitive matches; Barcelona lead in exhibition matches with 19 wins over Real Madrid 4 with 10 draws and a total of 115 wins over Real Madrid as of the game played on 12 January 2022. Barcelona’s first familiar name and top scorer (before Messi) was Paulino Alcantara.
