BARCELONA: Barcelona and Real Madrid meet for the 233rd time at Barca’s Camp Nou on Saturday (1715GMT) in one of the oldest and fiercest football rivalries on the planet.
Here, AFP Sports looks at some of the numbers behind the biggest game in club football:
1.4 billion
The combined value of the two most expensive squads in football is 1.4 billion according to specialist transfer site transfermarkt.com.
Led by the star frontline of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar, Barca’s squad value of 764 million euros outstrips Real’s by over 100 million euros.
21
The record for goals scored in El Clasico held by Messi ahead of late Real legend Alfredo di Stefano on 18. Cristiano Ronaldo is third with 16.
32 v 24
Madrid have the bragging rights when it comes to La Liga titles with 32 to Barca’s 24. However, the Catalans have had the upper hand in recent times, winning six in the last eight seasons.
232
Of 232 Clasicos played, Madrid also have the upper hand with 93 wins to 91. 48 meetings have ended in a draw.
679 v 620
After a decade of dominance by Real as the richest club in the world, Barca usurped their eternal rivals by posting an income of 679 million euros for last season compared to Madrid’s 620 million.
99,354
The capacity of Barca’s Camp Nou, the biggest stadium in Europe.
15
Since the sides last meeting in April, Real have won 15 more La Liga points than Barca. A 2-1 win eight months ago helped whittle Barca’s lead at the top of the table down from 10 points to just one at the end of the campaign, whilst Real boast a six-point lead after 13 games this season.
10
Number of La Liga goals scored by Ronaldo, who leads Messi and Suarez by one in the race to be top scorer.
Messi is the top scorer in all competitions with 19 in just 16 games this season.
