By Ismail Abdulazeez
The El Clasico is the most entertaining and exciting fixture in football.
Messi and Ronaldo are legends of El clasico. But who is the master? Tomorrow, the football world will gather to watch the bitterest rivalry match. Real Madrid will be visiting the Nou Camp for their second El Clasico match of the season. While the focus will be on the contest between Barcelona and Real Madrid, the rivalry between Barcelona guru Messi and Madrid legend Ronaldo will also gain attention. These two players have been the stand-out performers in the El Clasi co for the past few years. They have scored goals, broken records and lead their respective teams to victories in this great match.
The both have been dominant, and their fantastic records have sparked a lot of arguments among football fans about who is the best. But the question is, who is truly the father of the El Clasico? Let us compare their records as well as the number of victories they have achieved for their team.
Messi and Ronaldo have gained recognition for their consistent dominance over the years. While Messi has always impressed fans with his artistic brand of football, Ronaldo has been a super machine in front of goal. While it is tough to judge their performances in all competitions, as well as El Clasico. Even an exceptional goalscoring machine like Ronaldo cannot match Messi’s supremacy when it comes to this great fixture. The Argentine’s statistics in this intense rivalry are superior to those of his Portuguese counterpart. He has scored 25 goals in 37 appearances for Barcelona in the El Clasico, while the Real Madrid forward has only managed to score 17 times in 29 appearances. In addition to his amazing goalscoring exploits, the Argentine also wins the battle when it comes to setting up his teammates. The playmaker has assisted 14 goals and created 65 chances in this fixture, while his counterpart has just one assist and 15 chances to his name. Great players are usually judged based on their ability to lead their respective teams to important victories. Both Messi and Ronaldo are influential figures in their respective teams.
When it comes to El Clasico victories, Messi has appeared on the winning side more often than Ronaldo, with 17 wins, 8 draws and 12 losses from 37 matches. The Madrid star, on the other hand, has won 8, drawn 7 and lost 14 of his 29 matches in this fixture. Wherever greatness passes, it leaves records behind. Messi and Ronaldo have justified their greatness in the El Clasico by leaving wonderful records behind them. The legends have made some amazing records their own in the game. To start with, Ronaldo is the only player to have scored in 6 consecutive matches in this fixture. He is also the only player to have scored 11 goals at the Camp Nou as well as the most prolific European player in the battle, with 17 goals to his name. However, despite his brilliance, Lionel Messi also wins the race for the most memorable records in the El Clasico. The Argentine is the all-time scorer, with 25 goals to his name. His 14 assists mean that he has set-up more goals than any other player in the history of the rivalry. In addition, Messi is the all-time scorer at the Santiago Bernabeu, having scored 15 goals at the stadium. He also has the most goals in both the La Liga and the Spanish Super Cup.
It is true that both Almighty Messi and Ronaldo have been fantastic in the El Clasico. But when it comes to selecting the most influential player in this great fixture, the Argentine clearly has the edge. Barcelona forward has more goals and assists than his Madrid rival. He has also led his club to more victories in this fixture. At a tender age, the Argentine became the youngest player to score a hat-trick in an El Clasico match. He also went ahead to score another and broke the record for most hat-tricks in the clash. At 31 year old, Leo is currently the all-time scorer of the fixture with 25 goals to his profile. He will try to improve that tally when the two teams meet on Sunday night. With these records, Almighty Leo Messi is however the master of the El Clasico at the moment. We look forward to see another wonderful displays on Sunday.
