Which player has scored the most goals in El Clásico history? All-time top scorers

Real Madrid and Barcelona will lock horns once again in ‘El Clásico’ this Saturday in what will undoubtedly be a footballing fiesta, as is always the case when these two giants at the top of LaLiga meet.

A look at ‘El Clasico’ and all the goals it’s given us

Since his return to the Camp Nou as coach, former Barcelona star Xavi has worked his magic. This after all is a team, that lost arguably the greatest player in the game’s history and since then has managed to claw its way back into contention with the elite sides of the football world.

With that in mind, the one-time midfield maestro will lead the blaugrana into battle against their eternal rivals and given the way both sides are playing lately, there are likely to be goals. How many? We can’t say, but what we can do is take a look back at just how many times these two have scored against each other and which players have scored the most.

Who are the greatest goal scorers of ‘El Clasico?’

Before we take a look at which players have found the back of the net the most in these titanic clashes, it’s important to have context. In total, Barcelona and Real Madrid have met on 296 competitive occasions. It should be said, that the aforementioned total includes everything from La Liga, to the Copa Del Ray, to UEFA Champions League and even exhibition games. We mean everything.

Across those matches, Real Madrid have scored on 479 occasions while Barcelona have notched up 519. Where La Liga specifically is concerned, the pair are actually locked extremely close in terms of goals, with 299 for Real Madrid and 298 for FC Barcelona: expect that to change this weekend. As for wins across all competitions, Barca have 100 while Madrid has a slight edge with 102.

By now, you can probably tell that there have been a lot of fireworks between these two sides and moreover, a lot of goals. When it comes to which players have been responsible for the most goals between the two sides, we’ve created a list so you can see for yourself just who some of these hired hitmen are. Let’s take a look:

Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona) – 26 goals

If even you’re a casual fan of football, you could’ve guessed this one with ease. Indeed, Lionel Messi actually now plays for Paris Saint Germain is still the leading goal scorer in ‘El Clasico and in truth, that’s not likely to change anytime soon. Of his 26 goals against Los Blancos, 18 were in LaLiga, 6 in the Spanish Super Cup and 2 in Europe. To be clear, Messi has played against the team from the capital on 44 occasions, with his first time coming back in November of 2005.

Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) – 18 goals

Like Messi above, Ronaldo’s inclusion on this list was probably a forgone conclusion for you. Similarly, Ronaldo - like Messi - is no longer able to participate in ‘El Clasico’ as the Portuguese star now plays with Manchester United, having previously played with Italy’s Juventus after his departure from Real Madrid. In terms of numbers, CR7 has played in 29 Clasicos and across them was able to get his name on the scoresheet 18 times as mentioned before. Incidentally, both he and Messi’s last goal came in the now infamous 2-2 La Liga draw back in May 2018.

Alfredo Di Stefano (Real Madrid) - 18 goals

Considered by many to be one of the greatest to ever play the game and a true legend of the club, the late Argentine great was a thing of grace and beauty on the pitch. Indeed, today Real Madrid’s training ground-based stadium used normally by Castilla and the underage sides) is named after the man. Though his playing days had long since passed before his death in 2014, he remains tied with Cristiano Ronaldo as Madrid’s leading goal scorer in the history of ‘El Clasico.’ Interestingly, Di Stefano 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.

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Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) - 16 goals

The Frenchman, who now plays in Saudi Arabia, actually overtook Raúl in his final Clásico, where he scored a hat-trick in the Copa del Rey semi-final second leg at Camp Nou. Real Madrid won 0-4 in one the biggest Clásico results in modern times, overturning a 0-1 loss in the first leg.

Benzema’s time at Real Madrid was perhaps, and in hindsight, quite insanely, destined to go somewhat unnoticed compared to the ‘true greats’. That was until he won the Ballon d’Or. The individual award after a fantastic season at Madrid was the deserved justice for a player who is Real Madrid’s 3rd top scorer of all time.

Raúl (Real Madrid) – 15 goals

One of the Merengues’ favorite sons, local boy Raul sits just behind Di Stefano with 15 goals and like the Argentine is considered a legend of the club. 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). Regarding those at the bottom end of the top 10, we’ve got: 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), the Mexican sharing 10th place with Juanito (Real Madrid, 1977-1987) and Josep Samitier (Barcelona, 1919-1932).