El Clásico’s incredible 124-year stalemate between Real Madrid and Barcelona

El Clásico is considered by many to be one of world soccer’s greatest rivalries, mainly due to the shared success enjoyed by Barcelona and Real Madrid, opposing sides of the same coin, certainly in domestic terms.

The two clubs have faced each other in every LaLiga season since the competition’s inception in 1929, although their first-ever meeting dates back much further, to the 1902 Copa de la Coronación, the precursor to the Copa del Rey.

Barcelona, founded in 1899, won that first matchup 3-1 against Madrid Football Club, who started up three years later and were then renamed Real Madrid in 1920. On May 13, 1902, one of soccer’s greatest fixtures was born.

More than a century of rivalry

Sunday’s edition of the fixture, in which Barcelona secured the LaLiga title, was the 264th time the teams had crossed swords competitively. And despite the many twists and turns, peaks and dips for both clubs, there is quite literally nothing to separate the bitter rivals.

Barça’s 2-0 triumph at Spotify Camp Nou was their 106th victory against Madrid, who have also won the exact same number of Clásicos. There have been 52 draws.

The Catalans have strengthened their recent record in the fixture, winning six of the last seven meetings.

Nothing to separate Barcelona and Madrid

If the duo were part of a two-team league table in which ties were broken by goal difference, then Madrid would still come out on top, but only just.

The capital club has scored 447 goals in those 264 meetings, nine more than Barcelona’s 438.

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