For La Liga fans, any match between Barcelona and Real Madrid is as big for them as the Champions League final. Due to the two clubs' long-standing rivalry, each season's edition of El Clasico is always an eagerly anticipated clash and has gotten more intense in recent times as a result of the perpetual competition between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. The duo's dominance over the past six years is also quite evident in who has walked away with Ballon d'Or prize since 2008, with the Argentinian ace claiming a record-setting four while the Portuguese phenom has won two, including the most recent one.
With the next fixture just around the corner, let's take a look at the past five meetings between the Blaugrana and Los Blancos and see what this indicates ahead of the first meeting of the 2014/2015 season.
February 26, 2013: Won the battle, but lost the war
Both teams had headed into the second leg of the Copa del Rey on a 1-1 stalemate which had their fans eagerly awaiting the conclusion at Camp Nou. It was a time of mixed emotions for Real Madrid fans Cristiano Ronaldo netted two out of his side's three goals to send them through to the finals but they were unable to get past city rivals Atletico Madrid to clinch the trophy.
March 2, 2013: An ill-tempered affair
La Liga supporters were in for a treat just a week later as the two Spanish titans met up again, and it was an ill-tempered clash from start to finish. Numerous yellow cards were dished out on both sides, with the usual suspects being cautioned before ending with a bang as Victor Valdes was sent off for verbally abusing the referee. Although CR7 was unable to score, Karim Benzema and Sergio Ramos each grabbed themselves a goal, thus rendering Lionel Messi's first half effort futile.
October 16, 2013: A new star is born
Over the summer, Barcelona had spend big to bring in a young Brazilian who had quickly become a star at Santos despite his young age. Despite his great form in his native country, there were still some who doubted Neymar's ability to replicate the same form on the big stage as many of his compatriots--Robinho comes to mind--were touted as the "next Pele" only to crash and burn when arriving in Europe. Anyway, the then 21-year-old showed maturity beyond his years by scoring the Blaugrana's first and setting up Alexis Sanchez for the second in front of 98,000+ viewers at the Camp Nou and millions more worldwide to clinch all three points.
March 23, 2014: Venit, vidit, vicit
Five months later, the moment Real Madrid followers had been obsessively marking their calendars in anticipation for arrived--a chance to pay back Barcelona for the 2-1 loss earlier in the season. After finishing as a stalemate in the first half, things got dicey in the second as combative defender Ramos was sent off. Now down to ten, the game began to open up and the visitors took advantage through a brace of converted penalties courtesy of Messi. And just like that, the talismanic attacker completed his hat-trick at Los Blancos' home ground to send Barcelona's fans into raptures and Real Madrid's fans into a rage.
April 16, 2014: Sweet revenge
Real Madrid's legions of supporters didn't have to wait long to get revenge on their opponents as the duo, as has happened during many seasons, were pitted against each other yet again. This time the stage was the Copa del Rey finals a month before the capital club's historic 10th triumph in the Champions League. Despite the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo, Ancelotti's troops showed their depth as a goal from Angel Di Maria and a brilliant solo run from Gareth Bale were enough to win their first trophy of the season.
Given the history and past results between these two clubs and the good form of key players such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and Neymar, coupled with the possible introduction of Luis Suarez, Saturday's clash looks to be one that could go either way.
It could also be a special one for Messi as the 27-year-old seeks to become Spanish football's all-time goal scorer, and what better way than to do so in the backyard of your team's most bitter rivals? So, as a result, this will give Carlo Ancelotti's men an extra impetus to do all they can to stop him--and Barcelona--from drawing first blood and moving further ahead of them in the table.
