EL CLASICO
Which player has scored the most goals in El Clásico history? All time top scorers
Karim Benzema scored in the last encounter and moved into 10th in the ranking, but which players sits above him in the Barcelona vs Real Madrid goal-getters.
Real Madrid and Barcelona will lock horns once again in their famous Clásico this Sunday at the Camp Nou in what will be the 247th competitive meeting between the sides.
This meeting sees the two clubs in interesting situations. Current title holders Atlético Madrid are seen as the team to beat, and with huge financial problems, Barça have had to say goodbye to their talisman for over a decade, Lionel Messi, now putting much of their faith in youth and free transfers. Los Blancos, with new manager Carlo Ancelotti at the helm, are still waiting on their new Galáctico rebuild, but have had some performances that have given Madridistas reasons to be optimistic.
Down through the years, several of history’s greatest goalscorers have played a starring role in the long-running Clásico drama, with the fixture’s all-time list of net fillers reading as a who’s who of footballing legends, and is unsurprisingly led by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
It's all about El Clasíco:
Overall after 246 games played, Real Madrid have scored 413 goals and claimed 98 victories, two more victory than Barcelona, who have scored 401 goals against their eternal rivals. With 814 goals in 246 games, there have been an average 3.3 goals per Clásico fixture – not a bad turnout for the greatest club game on earth.
Clásico all-time top-scorers
Lionel Messi (Barcelona) – 26 goals
Lionel Messi, the only man in the top 10 that is still active in the Clásico, leads the table with 26 goals. Those 26 goals – 18 in LaLiga, 6 in the Spanish Super Cup, 2 in Europe – have come over the record total 44 fixtures that the Argentine striker has played since his first game against Real Madrid more than 15 years ago in November, 2005.
Although, surprisingly, it has been almost three years since the great Leo last scored against Los Blancos, in a 2-2 draw in LaLiga in May of 2018. He will hope to bring an end to that scoreless streak on Saturday to bring himself closer to the incredible 30-goal Clásico milestone – a milestone he may never reach, however, should he decide to leave Camp Nou this summer.
Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) – 18 goals
Much to the disappointment of Real and Barça fans alike, Cristiano Ronaldo no longer plays a part in this fixture and particularly in history’s greatest duel with Lionel Messi that lasted nine glorious seasons (somewhat coincidentally Messi has not scored since Ronaldo’s last Clásico before he left for Juventus in the summer of 2018).
During this time at Real Madrid, CR7 played in 29 Clásicos, netting 18 goals. Both he and Messi’s last Clásico goal both came in that 2-2 LaLiga fixture in May, 2018. He was never able to bag a hat-trick in the fixture, unlike Messi, who has two Clásico hat-tricks to his name.
Alfredo di Stefano (Real Madrid) – 18 goals
The stadium that was used over the last year or so as the Bernabéu was being revamped (Real Madrid’s training ground-based stadium used normally by Castilla and the underage sides) is named after this man for a reason. Arguably the club’s greatest legend, Alfredo di Stefano remains Madrid’s leading goalscorer in the history of the Clásico alongside Cristiano Ronaldo. Some onlookers would also point to the fact that the Spanish Super Cup - where Messi grabbed six - wasn't in existence before 1982.
Di Stefano himself was the subject of an intense battle between the two clubs, both of whom had claimed to own his registration due to confusion that emerged when the player moved from Colombian club Los Millionarios to Argentina’s River Plate. Acting as mediator, FIFA ruled that both clubs would share the player on alternate seasons. But the Argentine-born forward moved definitively to Madrid after the Barcelona interim board cancelled his contract following the forced resignation of its president at the time – a decision they probably lived to regret.
Raúl (Real Madrid) – 15 goals
Not far behind Di Stefano on the Bernabéu legend stakes, local Madrileño Raúl comes in fourth with 15 goals. The former Spanish international played in 37 Clásicos overall, his first coming in a 5-0 rout of the Catalans in January, 1995 (he didn’t score) and his last in a 2-0 defeat in April, 2010. Out of the top 10 all-time top scorers, he comes second behind Messi in number of appearances.
Clásico all-time top scorers: 5th to 10th
Behind Raul are three players on 14 goals: César (Barcelona, 1939-1955), Ferenc Puskas (Real Madrid, 1958-1966), and Francisco Gento (Real Madrid, 1953-1971).
Making up the rest of the top 10 are: Santillana with 12 goals (Real Madrid, 1971-1988), Luis Suárez with 11 goals (Barcelona, 2014-2020) and Hugo Sanchéz with 10 goals (Real Madrid, 1985-1992), who shares 10th place with Juanito (Real Madrid, 1977-1987), and Josep Samitier (Barcelona, 1919-1932) and the only current player, Karim Benzema who scored last time out in a 2-1 win.