Check out the top ten greatest El Clasicos ever. With Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and Real Madrid’s Gareth Bale shining at the Nou Camp and the Bernabeu…
With El Clasico upon us, we are getting ready to witness one of the greatest sporting events of the year. But looking back at Lionel Messi’s match winning hat-trick, Gareth Bale’s breathtaking run, which of the previous El Clasicos have been the best?
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Here are the top ten El Clasicos ever, according to Daily Mail.
10) First El Clasico Cup Final Ever – 1936
An action packed El Clasico! Real Madrid raced into a 2-0 lead, but Barcelona mounted a late comeback.
An unbelievable late save from Madrid shot stopper Ricardo Zamora denied Barcelona a last minute equaliser, Los Blancos holding onto their 2-1 lead until the final whistle.
9) Area 51, Presidential assassinations, and El Clasico – 1968
There are always conspiracy theories suggesting the referee is either a Real Madrid or a Barcelona fan before, during, and after El Clasicos. In 1968 there was more reason than usual to suspect foul play however.
A suspected Barcelona fan, referee Antonio Rigo ignored two clear penalty appeals in the second half with Barcelona eventually winning the game 1-0.
8) Shhhhh! – 1999
Raul opened the scoring in the last El Clasico of the 20th century, but Barcelona then took the lead through Rivaldo and Luis Figo.
Raul equalised with just minutes to go however, and silenced fans at the Nou Camp when he put his finger to his lips.
7) Making a pig’s ear of things… – 2002
Luis Figo controversially returned to the Nou Camp after making the switch to Real Madrid.
The game was stopped for 16 minutes when Figo decided to take a corner. He was bombarded with missiles including a pig’s head.
Barcelona ended up winning 2-0.
6) Golden Balls – 2003
In 2003 David Beckham made his first appearance in an El Clasico for Real Madrid at the Nou Camp.
His goal helped the Spanish giants to a 2-1 win after Roberto Carlos cancelled out Patrick Kluivert’s opener.
5) Brazilian magic – 2005
Ronaldinho scored a superb brace in 2005, putting Real Madrid to the sword 3-0 at the Bernabeu.
The Madrid fans even gave him a standing ovation to show their appreciation of his skill.
4) The Leo Messi show – 2007
Lionel Messi single handedly wrestled a point from Real Madrid in 2007, scoring a hat-trick to level the scores.
Ruud van Nistelrooy had scored a brace and Sergio Ramos got the third, but the Argentine exploded onto the scene to deny Real all three points.
3) Welsh Power – 2014
Last season Gareth Bale endeared himself to Real Madrid fans in the best way possible; with the winning goal in an El Clasico. And what a goal it was.
The former Tottenham man ran half the length of the pitch in a matter of seconds, leaving Barcelona players in his dust as he slotted in his goal.
An unbelievable run and the goal to top it off.
2) Records smashed – 2014
Another hat-trick for Lionel Messi saw Barcelona get their season back on track with a 4-3 win over their rivals at the Bernabeu.
The three goals meant Messi was now the all-time top scorer in El Clasico with 21 goals, surpassing Alfredo Di Stefano.
1) Six is the magic number – 2009
In what was a fantastic example of team cohesion, Barcelona incredibly beat Real Madrid 6-2 in May 2009.
The Catalan club had a dominant strike force of Thierry Henry, Samuel Eto’o, and Lionel Messi.
The trio picked apart Real Madrid and left them feeling shell shocked.