Today, two elite teams from the top division of Spanish football - Madrid's "Real" and "Barcelona" will test their strengths at the "Santiago Bernabeu" stadium in the capital of Spain.
At the moment, the Catalan club is leading the national championships, having not experienced a single loss in the first eight games, and also not conceding any goals to their opponents.
Carlo Ancelotti's team, which stumbled several times in the start of the championship, has recently not shared points with their rivals and has already climbed to third place in the tournament table.
The Catalan daily newspaper "Sport" has prepared a collection of historical statistics ahead of the showdown between these eternal rivals.
NOTE: The statistics only include matches of the Spanish football championship held in Madrid. Absent from here are the King's Cup and the Champions League matches played between "Real" and "Barcelona" in the capital of Spain.
84 - the number of "El Clasico" matches between Madrid's "Real" and "Barcelona" clubs in the 83 years of national championships. It happened that in the 1986-1987 season both teams played twice at the "Santiago Bernabeu" stadium. At that time, the Spanish championship had a different organizational system and the teams played in a "play-off" system at the end of the tournament.
51 - the number of times Madrid's "Real" players were stronger in their home ground. In 33 matches, "Barcelona" managed to score the least points: they won 18 matches, while 15 ended in draws. Since the beginning of the 21st century, rivals have played almost equally at the "Santiago Bernabeu" stadium: "Real" won 6 matches, "Barca" - 5, with 3 matches ending in a draw.
274 - the number of goals both teams scored in the Spanish capital. This is more than three goals per game. Last season's Spanish championship match in Madrid exceeded this average by more than double - "Barcelona" won 4:3.
98 - the number of goals "Barcelona" has scored at the "Santiago Bernabeu" stadium. Thus, Luis Enrique's players are just two goals away from their 100th goal milestone. As usual, the hosts play more productively - 176 goals.
16 - the number of times Madrid's club legend and captain Raul Gonzalez Blanco played against "Barcelona" in their home stadium. Among the current "Real" players, Iker Casillas played the most "El Clasico" matches in Madrid - 13.
14 - the number of times Barcelona defender Xavi Hernandez has played in Madrid against "Real". These are the most matches among the current Barcelona players. He has a record of 6 wins, 5 losses, and 3 draws. Xavi has also received 5 yellow cards, a red card in 2008, and scored 2 goals.
13 - the number of "El Clasico" matches in Madrid led by Miguel Munoz for the "Real" team, who previously played as a player for the same team. Vicente del Bosque and Luis Molowny have coached the Spanish capital team against "Barcelona" at the "Santiago Bernabeu" stadium five times each. This "El Clasico" will be the second time for the current Madrid team managers at the "Santiago Bernabeu" stadium.
9 - the number of goals scored in Madrid matches against "Barcelona" by Hugo Sanchez and Raul Gonzalez Blanco.
8 - the number of "El Clasico" matches of the national championship played in the Spanish capital led by Johan Cruyff for the "Barcelona" team. An interesting fact - the other two places among the coaches who led the Catalan club in matches against "Real" in Madrid are also held by Dutch coaches. Rinus Michels led "Barca" six times, and Frank Rijkaard five times.
5 - the number of matches in the last six "El Clasico" matches played in Madrid where Lionel Messi has scored at least once. Last season, the Argentine organized a festival in the stronghold of the eternal rivals and scored three precise shots. In the "Real" team, the scoring series belongs to Karim Benzema - he scored goals in the last three matches against "Barcelona" played in the capital of Spain.
4 - the number of times in the "El Clasico" matches of the Spanish championship, played in Madrid, when the Basque referee Ildefonso Urizar Azpitarte officiated. This November 19th, he will turn 71. Both teams won a match each under his refereeing, and two matches ended in a tie.
1 - this Saturday, Jesus Gil Manzano will officiate his first "El Clasico" in his career.
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